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RIP the Broccoli Tree

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Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#141

Post by 13of40 »

foxhop wrote: post #125
13of40 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can confirm. A couple of years ago the ornamental plum in my front yard died and I cut it off near the base. Almost immediately about a hundred new trunks sprouted from the stump and roots, and it was what I considered a handsome shrubbery for a year or so before my wife made me coppice the whole thing out of the ground with axe and pickup truck.

More likely the scion died and the root stock took over. It wouldn't have grown the same plum or flower. You didn't coppice it when you removed it. Coppice is when a tree is "topped" like a haircut and then it grows back. Not all trees are suitable for coppicing, but the ones that do grow back vigorously and are great for firewood / lumber.

I was using the word "coppice" in jest, by juxtaposing the image of complete removal-by-force with the real meaning.

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#142

Post by vog »

cableshaft wrote: post #95
clarkenheim wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple of those are not the same. When it happens by genuine accident it is not the same as vandalism.

I didn't call it vandalism. I consider it to be an equivalent loss whether it happened with intent, by accident, or a freak of nature. It's all sad to me.

Does it really make sense to apply the perception of loss for something that nature gives and takes without human influence?

For example, all those interesting formations and places that disappeared 1000 years ago - so we've never seen those in the first place - are those also losses?

By that logic, wouldn't be any form of natural change be huge tragedy, an endless sequence of losses?

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#144

Post by andrewem »

stinkytaco wrote: post #119
seunosewa wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, it took 2 acts of stupidity. The vandalism, and the bureaucratic decision to help the vandal to finish the job.

How do we arrive at either of those conclusions? I, for one, know nothing of this tree other than what I have seen just now. It's entirely possible that a trained arborist (which most cities and counties employ) looked at the tree and decided it needed to be taken down or coppiced. In fact I would argue that it's much more likely that happened than anything else. I'm actually a little disappointed that the article ju…

I didn't know what the verb "coppice" means, but it turns out to mean cutting off the top of a tree so that new growth will occur: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#145

Post by jaapz »

mavhc wrote: post #137
mijowi wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> an act of protest against the logging industry That makes zero sense. He killed an awesome, special tree to protest killing of trees. What a loser.

" I didn't enjoy butchering, this magnificent old plant, but you apparently need a message and wake-up call, that even a university trained professional, should be able to understand. . . . I mean this action, to be an expression, of my rage and hatred, towards university trained professionals and their extremist supporters, whose ideas, ethics, denials, part truths, attitudes, etc., appear to be responsible, for mos…

Fighting fire with fire

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#147

Post by dmix »

cableshaft wrote: post #65

There's so many examples of this it's just so sad. Joshua Tree on U2 album cover destroyed: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2971368/U2-fan-pilgr... Kids knock down 16 million year old rock formation: https://military.id.me/news/idiots-ruin-18-million-year-old-... One man accidentally killed the oldest tree ever: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-one-man-accide... World's most isolated tree knocked…

> That year, a well was dug near the tree, offering a hint to how it had managed to survive in the sand. The tree, only around 10 feet tall, had roots that stretched down more than 100 feet to the water table.

Amazing.

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#148

Post by dmix »

foxhop wrote: post #126
cableshaft wrote: post #65

There's so many examples of this it's just so sad. Joshua Tree on U2 album cover destroyed: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2971368/U2-fan-pilgr... Kids knock down 16 million year old rock formation: https://military.id.me/news/idiots-ruin-18-million-year-old-... One man accidentally killed the oldest tree ever: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-one-man-accide... World's most isolated tree knocked…

white house allows mining company to destroy this: http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/10/politics/bristol-bay-salmon-in...

That hasn't passed yet, nor has the mining company 'destroyed' it.

> Pebble still would have to apply for permits before building a mine in Bristol Bay. Two public hearings will be held in Alaska on the topic this week. And the public has until October 17 to comment on Pruitt's proposed policy reversal before it could be finalized.

Re: RIP the Broccoli Tree

#149

Post by dmix »

tptacek wrote: post #38
schiffern wrote: post #4

Note that it's a willow tree, so the vandal and workers may have "just" unintentionally coppiced it. Far from killing the tree, some of the oldest trees in the world are coppiced. Coppicing is supposed to happen in winter, but it's possible this tree could survive. Looking at the "before" picture, the tree might itself be a spray formed when an older tree was cut. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing

The vandals don't care whether the tree lives or dies; they care that nobody enjoys the tree while they have to be aware of it.

I believe the OP was referencing the city workers who coppiced the tree, not the vandals who forced them to do so...
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