Mountain biking
Hi guys, Thanks for identifying my Iceland tree. Unfortunately, I went back to Hallormsstaður National Forest and the Bristlecone Pines I found before were dead. I did find pines with 2 and 3 needles per fascicle with similar grey bark that I think were Mountain Pines. Now I have a question. We ride mountain bikes on trails through the woods here in Michigan and I suddenly thought “What are we doing to these trees?” We ride over roots all the time. How are they being affected short and long term?
Replacing Tree of Heaven
I live in Eastern Washington (dry and not many big trees unless its irrigated or near a river). My neighborhood is nicely shaded by a grove of trees of heaven. Cutting them down and planting native saplings would mean losing their lovely shade and bird habitat until the saplings grew up. How would you go about replacing invasive trees without losing their benefits in the meantime? Thanks for all your fabulous knowledge!
Tree heroes?
Hello Again, you guys may have heard of Wangari Maathai, the late Kenyan human rights activist and ecosystem advocate. She started the green belt movement focused on planting trees as means of preserving habitat from desertification, encouraging water catchment and promoting human wellbeing. Do you have other tree-related heroes?
Are there useful non-natives?
Hello, Alex and Casey, really enjoying the pod. I am up in Maine and am fairly fledgling in my tree ID. I have been surprised by just how many trees are nonnative. (Norway maple, European alder, European mountain ash… etc.) Do you know of examples of non-natives which actually contribute to ecosystems? Mountain ash berries should still be available to wildlife for instance. I imagine it’s nuanced where a tree might contribute in one way while being damaging in another. Or Should I despair? And if so how much?
Leaf personification
Hi Casey and Alex! I wanted to share something I stumbled across recently reading the original Bambi story by Felix Salten. It's a short chapter where he gives the leaves voices, I thought it was an intriguing concept and wanted to hear your reactions to it. I'll email photos of the chapter. Thanks!
Plants growing to the same altitude
Hey, Casey and Alex! Cory here. You've answered a couple of my questions on the show already, and here I am with another one. It's not exactly a tree question, but it is a plant question, so I hope you'll have some insight. I have two calla lilies that grow in neighboring pots. The pots are different sizes, and the soil in one pot is a couple inches higher than the soil in the other pot. How, both plants have grown to nearly the exact same altitude. Their leaves have grown up to the same height, and the flowers to the same height a few inches above the leaves. I noticed that this morning and I'm so intrigued. Why is there this apparent agreement between these two plants to grow to the same altitude, within millimeters? Why doesn't the plant that starts from higher up at the roots grow higher up? What do these plants know that I don't? Thank you -Cory
Kelp - trees of the sea
Hi Casey and Alex, I'm wondering if you ever thought about doing an episode on kelp? Kelp is often considered to be the trees of the sea and grow in "forests." I studied marine biology in college and spent a lot of time scuba diving in the kelp forests in various parts of California. Both giant kelp (macrocystis pyrifera) and bull kelp (nerocystis luetkenea) can grow upwards of 100ft! Would love to eventually hear your take on either species. You do dive into (pun intended) so many things such as their importance for marine ecosystems, restoration efforts, urchin barrens, kelp farming, and so much more.
Toppled redwood with side branches becoming new trees?
Hi Alex and Casey! I recently went on a hike and saw a toppled over coast redwood, but still living with root attached to the ground. What it seems to me is that all the side branches become small trees! (pictures sent via email with the same title) Could this be true? Or will the top of the tree eventually take a 90 degree turn and remain the top. Thanks you all! Love the pod! Rex
What Does It Look Like?
Hey Casey & Alex! Hope you are both enjoying the change of seasons and getting some much needed vitamin d up there in P-town! I hail from the other [East] side of the Cascades and live a bit south of Bend where our forest is predominantly Lodgepole Pine with intermixed stands of Ponderosa Pine. As you know we face serious wildfire risk here and in recent years the USFS has been working on major fuels reduction projects including thinning, slash piling and controlled burns. With this comes an abundance of public announcements regarding the role of fire on the landscape, a history of fire suppression and what a healthy Ponderosa Pine forest looks like - usually using the phrase "park-like" and emphasizing the spacing that these fire adapted species thrive in due to frequent, low-intensity fires the trees were accustomed to in the past. What never seems to be addressed is what a healthy lodgepole forest looks like and it has me very curious. We have so many thick, overstocked swaths of lodgepole and they really just look awful - picture 1"-4" diameter scrawny little trees so close together you can't even walk through them, with skeletons of their tiny dead relatives criss crossed and hung up on each other in such a fashion that once glance and you think "yeah, this is how fires happen". So, my question is, what does a healthy lodgepole forest look like and how, after years of this awful growth pattern, can or would any sense of balance be achieved in these places? Thank you both for always keeping my brain occupied, my eyes attuned to the nerdy nuances of the trees and of course, for all of the out loud bursts of laughter that come while listening. Keep up the good work! Blair
Cool long-term tree studies.
Hey guys! I've been thinking about how long many trees live and how that could make it challenging to do controlled experiments. Do you know of any cool long-term studies past, present, or future? Also, if you had the magic power to fund a study, are there any particular mysteries that you would want investigated? Wishing you all the best! -Dean.
Hello, Casey and Alex! Since I had emailed you all in February, I am officially all caught up on the pod! I became a Treemium member in March after over two years of listening to catch up. I am currently working through all the premium content now. As I had mentioned in my email, it has been so awesome to see how much you guys have grown and changed throughout your podcast journey. It’s been so cool seeing how much Alex has gained confidence in his forestry knowledge. This has had me wanting to ask what is your favorite thing that you have learned from the podcast about trees and about yourself?
Over the years, what is your favorite thing that you have learned from the podcast about trees and about yourself?
I found this tree several times in Iceland
And haven’t been able to figure out what it is. The first settlers of Iceland used up all their trees in the first 800 years, so it’s not native to Iceland. I think the bark is very distinctive, yet no picture on the Internet seems to correspond to it. You can roll the needles between your fingers and they are three sided. I’m going back to Iceland next month and would love to be able to tell my travel companions the tree species. Tree pic: https://robkerr-my.sharepoint.com/:i:/g/personal/brenda_kerr_cc/EX7kZqzydbBOsPOe67_4wBEBvO92aPR2VAxvNDqMhlZ3oA?e=Spg7om
Deadwood
Hey fellow tree peeps. I'm a residential climbing arborist and a common task is to deadwood trees. We climb around and either just get large hazardous branches or sometimes go through the entire tree and go after a certain size of branch, ie 2" and larger, 1/2" or larger and so on. While I will admit that coming down from a tree and standing back to admire this "clean" tree can be rewarding, it does often leave me with the question. Does all the deadwood of a tree have real benifts to the environment of said tree? I can foresee benefits to certain insects and fungi but what might be some real benefits to the tree? I do like to represent myself as an Arborist, with a capital A, so the more knowledge I can gain, the better I can be that Arborist. My mission as an steward of the urban forest is this, the more healthy trees in which people live around the happier the people. The happier the people, the more trees we get to have. So I feel this information can be added to an arsenal of topics in which I can discuss with customers throughout my workday. As always thank you Nathan
Boys, after listening to the whole Lord of the Tree Rings marathon, I had a thought strike me like a bolt of lightning as I heard the once familiar phrase "FAGOOSH!" Gasp, I said to myself, Why is this the first fagoosh I've heard on this pod in literal years? To where did fagoosh vanish? And that got me thinking about more oldies but goodies from this pod. Where is Crowson's Stump of Approval? Collecting dust in a vacant glen somewhere?! And lastly, Crowson's Homegrown Treevia has not graced my ears in some time. What are the chances we bring back this might trio, this TREE-umvirate (I did that Roman Empire allusion for Casey)? Love the pod!
Boys, after listening to the whole Lord of the Tree Rings marathon, I had a thought strike me like a bolt of lightning as I heard the once familiar phrase "FAGOOSH!" Gasp, I said to myself, Why is this the first fagoosh I've heard on this pod in literal years? To where did fagoosh vanish? And that got me thinking about more oldies but goodies from this pod. Where is Crowson's Stump of Approval? Collecting dust in a vacant glen somewhere?! And lastly, Crowson's Homegrown Treevia has not graced my ears in some time. What are the chances we bring back this might trio, this TREE-umvirate (I did that Roman Empire allusion for Casey)? Love the pod!
Pollenpocalypse
Hi Alex and Casey! I've recently moved back to Raleigh, NC and we have been in the midst of "the pollening". A yellow film has covered everything for the last week or so, and everyone's allergies have been acting up (including my cat Chai's). I've lived in several places where allergies and pollen are still a thing, but I have been wondering why it is so intense in North Carolina and the Triangle specifically? I have heard its been attributed to tree pollen in the area and Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" but I'm not sure what the difference is between the trees here and other areas along the east coast with similar species? Are there any ways that could mitigate this level of pollen, or is NC cursed to be yellow every spring? Thanks from a new cone club member and listener!
What's up with root tissue?
I was on a hike and there was an american sycamore with most of the soil washed out from along the bank of a stream and the roots had the telltale camo-ey exfoliating bark pattern. I know some species can put new root tissue on from stems and grow new shoots from existing roots but I've never heard of root tissue ‘becoming’ stem tissue. Is root tissue just super flexible? What other cool things can it do?
What's up with root tissue?
I was on a hike and there was an american sycamore with most of the soil washed out from along the bank of a stream and the roots had the telltale camo-ey exfoliating bark pattern. I know some species can put new root tissue on from stems and grow new shoots from existing roots but I've never heard of root tissue ‘becoming’ stem tissue. Is root tissue just super flexible? What other cool things can it do?
Favorite tree/forb combos
Howdy! Long time listener from the Ozarks. Loving Inside Sprout and always appreciate when you cover my favorite eastern species (would love a Chinquapin Oak episode!). My question is: what species of flowers and trees do you think go well together? I work in prairies and savannah habitats and love how the pale delicate white flowers of Penstemon digitalis looks under wide Oak branches. Feel free to just go by color or general flower vibe. Also, I'm planning a trip to SW Oregon in May and would appreciate any recommendations for a tree lover!
PNW Climate Resistant Forestry?
I live in the Seattle area and came across an article about this in the local news. Do trees of the same species have different resiliency traits throughout their native region? Is it really possible to create climate change resistant forests still comprised of native species? I'm fascinated by this project and would love to hear your thoughts! Thank you! - Madison (they/them) https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dnrp/about-king-county/about-dnrp/newsroom/2025-news-releases/03-20-climate-resilient-trees
Drive By Tree I.D.
Do you ever try to identify trees as you're driving down the road? How accurate can you be? My 4 year old son knows that I'm a fan of trees, so he'll ask me to name trees while we're driving through neighborhoods. It's a fun game, albeit a little dangerous if you get too distracted. Hard mode is doing it on the highway. Games aside, you guys have inspired me, and through me, my son to learn more about the trees in our area. Thank you, and keep on keeping on with your badass selves. Rich from Michigan
Trees that fix toxic soil?
Hiya fellas. I live in southeast Michigan. Not really Detroit, but vaguely that area. If you don't know much about Detroit, it's kind of famous for it's history in the auto industry. Now there are a lot of abandoned factories in the area. One of the reasons that these spaces aren't bring repurposed is because of the toxicity in the ground from decades of auto manufacturing. Is there a tree, or types of trees, that could be planted that would be able to thrive and help cleanse the soil? Love The Pod, you guys are bad motherfuckers! Rich from Michigan