mesquite trees

they drop pollen

then they drop beans

then they drop leaves

and it starts all over again...

the best thing about a mesquite tree is when it burns it smells like a BBQ

I have about 30 on my property and I've already removed 8 but they're the only thing that can provide shade and keep the house cool in the summer to lighten the load on the AC

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:
Not shown: The other half of that limb, caught 35' up in a stink tree over the power line.

"Stink tree"... Tree of Heaven, by chance? Next door neighbour on one side used to have two of those in their yard. Those are also messy. And they stink.

That's it, ensigmatic. Some around here call them sumacs (? ), I learned tree of heaven. What a joke.

As I understand they were introduced to this country as a gift from China in the 1800's, supposedly ornamental . They're a frickin' weed. The roots are a lattice close to the surface and little ones pop out all over the yard. They'll grow inches a day. I've long said they're the only tree that needs regular mowing. Their own kind of tree mess in your yard.

When the tree guys were dealing with the hung up limb the other day, I asked what they call them. Yep, stink trees. Stink trees they shall be.

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Originally posted by nhtagmember:


..the best thing about a mesquite tree is when it burns it smells like a BBQ

It's also a lovely hard and dense wood with lots of character when finished.

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… giant old Shagbark Hickory where half of it is over my yard.

Can't you cut off the branches that hang over your side? You may not be able to get the highest ones without a pro, but the ones you can get with a pole saw would still be a help.

Collection of chainsaws, Vermeer BC1000 chipper. For smaller stuff, hand feed. For larger stuff feed with the excavator.

I've seen the Tree of Heaven also referred to as the "Ghetto Palm" as they are the only thing other than weeds that can grow out of a crack in a concrete parking lot.

Around there they are bad and being taken down as fast as possible as the equally invasive Spotted Lantern fly LOVES them and breeds on them.

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Originally posted by PASig:
I've seen the Tree of Heaven also referred to as the "Ghetto Palm"...

When I first ran across them, I thought kinda tropical, cool.

Delt with a Poplar tree that had morphed into seven trunks from one root system at the back corner of our lot. My S-I-L and I took it down Friday evening. And as an added gift there is a bunch of Ivy that has grown into it also.

Could be worse, the last city we lived in had a tree ordinance. Any removal had to be approved by the city's Arborist. He and I went around about another Poplar that was half dead standing limbs over power,cable and phone lines and that extended over my neighbor's house and ours. He actually told me that I needed to try and "save" this tree even though when he first saw it said "You know some people call these junk trees?" I told him that I was not spending thousands of dollars to save a half dead bug infested tree and one way or the other it was coming down.

It cost me a thousand dollars to take it down. When they started cutting the trunk the true level of damage was then visible, the whole center was full of bugs and "punked" wood.

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Originally posted by Ripley:
Cottonwoods, probably the messiest of all trees. Euphemistically called "self pruning" as stuff breaks off them with little wind. Of course the "cotton" clogs AC's, mowers and such and the bunches leave white blots on the yard when mowed. Tree guys hate them because they're so fragile.

This from a couple weeks back --

Agreed , cottonwoods are terrible.

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Originally posted by mrvmax:
I saw a video of someone using this, not sure if it works:
https://www.drpower.com/power-...t/leaf-lawn-vacuums/

I have one and it's been great. Mine mulches everything into Wheaties sized objects which I then burn. I tried the mulch them with the lawn tractor but this is much better. It actually vacuums everything up as well as mulching the leaves.

So my neighbor’s hickory tree that overhangs into my yard has really started dropping nuts in the past two weeks so I finally ordered and got a tool for them and it works GREAT!

It’s a nut gathering tool made by the company that makes the Garden Weasel and it’s made gathering up hundreds of nuts off my lawn a breeze compared to raking and hand gathering. You just roll it over them and it captures them and it’s quick. I must have rolled up 50 lbs of hickory nuts in about 15 minutes the first time I used it.

Best $50 I’ve spent in a long time!

Also works great for picking up brass at the range (gun forum, you know).