Earlier quoted context omitted.
Linden trees have a unique scent, but I never thought it was repulsive or even remotely associated with the kinds of things people associate it with.
What people eat, affects how they smell and their.. um, liquids.
Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them
111–120 of 154 posts
Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
They also smell like someone took a rotting fish, dunked it in sewage and decided to roast it in the sun for a few days. They're everywhere where I live, and it's so bad.
The other one that smells horrible are female gingko trees. The fruits smell like rancid butter or garbage. These days you can really only buy the male ones but older plantings are awful. https://www.purdue.edu/fnr/extension/ginkgo-stinkgo-are-boys...
Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you mean Piss Elm? I've never heard of an oak with that quality.
I believe the polite common name is “Pin Oak” [1] a fast growing, short lived, and relatively red oak. Supposedly the smell comes from a bacterial infection that afflicts most of the Pin Oak population. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_palustris
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[0] - Specifically at human/humane, live in and breathe in and admire it scale. I'm very fond of nature at population scale, and at molecular scale, both of which present interesting puzzles and applications.
Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't mean to blow your mind, but humans are a part of nature. One advantage we have over other species is that we can spot patterns and work collectively to fix undesirable situations or circumstances. And if our fix causes further problems, we can fix those too! We're flawed creatures so it's not ideal, but it sure beats being at the mercy of the forces nature uses to correct things on its own, like diseases and…
And look at the state of the world with all our interventions. We may be "a part of nature", but the things we do to it are definitely not natural. We're the only ones doing collectively irreparable harm, so as not to be at its mercy.
Name three.
I can think of one: we landed stuff on the Moon and beyond. I think that otherwise, nature has a hard time reaching out beyond low Earth orbit.
Other than that, I can't think of anything we'd consider massive fuckups that nature didn't do better. We're definitely tamer than anything else, considering that life itself is a mass murder fest at every scale, from molecular to planetary.
Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe the polite common name is “Pin Oak” [1] a fast growing, short lived, and relatively red oak. Supposedly the smell comes from a bacterial infection that afflicts most of the Pin Oak population. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_palustris
I've never been very fond of nature to begin with[0], but I never imagined becoming disgusted by trees . That's until seeing some four different tree species mentioned in this thread, whose common characteristic seems to be the aura of shite and decay that takes years or decades to break through people's desperate need to pretend that since it is nature and handles well, it must be good. -- [0] - Specifically at huma…
Well, two reasons: money from the cleared land, and rain forests tend to be unpleasant reserves of biodiversity with all sorts of nasty plants and flying insects that want to lay eggs under your skin.
Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never been very fond of nature to begin with[0], but I never imagined becoming disgusted by trees . That's until seeing some four different tree species mentioned in this thread, whose common characteristic seems to be the aura of shite and decay that takes years or decades to break through people's desperate need to pretend that since it is nature and handles well, it must be good. -- [0] - Specifically at huma…
There's a reason people tend to burn down rain forests. Well, two reasons: money from the cleared land, and rain forests tend to be unpleasant reserves of biodiversity with all sorts of nasty plants and flying insects that want to lay eggs under your skin.
Yes, it's often enough dumb, short-sighted, self-destructive selfish behavior, which I absolutely do not condone. However, horror or disgust alone are nowhere near enough to get people to engage in such behavior. At most it gets people to try - and sometimes succeed - to clear invasive species out of the gardens they already have.
Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought you were going to say something about how large branches will just pop off and crush anything beneath them at random times. This is due to how multiple branches will come from the trunk at the same point, and are weakly attached. EDIT: Having finally eradicated all of the ones from our land, the best method is to immediately pour herbicide onto the trunk after cutting it down. The herbicide will get sucked…
What herbicide do you use? I have a tree growing under my roofline that keeps growing back. I tried glyphosate last time, but it came back.
Cut the tree down and leave 4-6” above the ground. Take a small drill and put a 3/8” drill bit in it. Try to find the small hole in the very middle of the trunk and drill down into it. This is how the sap flows through the tree. Carefully spray 3-4 good sprays of Glyphosate into the hole with gloves and eye protection. The tree and gravity will take this down into the roots where they will die. The small amount of Glyophosate will stay in the roots for approximately eight years, and it won’t leak out into the soil as it’s held by them.
Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apparently this is no longer much of an issue. Quoting [0]: "The federal ban was lifted in 1966, though many states maintained their own bans. Research showed that blackcurrants could be safely grown some distance from white pines and this, together with the development of rust-immune varieties and new fungicides, led to most states lifting their bans by 2003. Blackcurrants are now grown commercially in the Northeast…
they're also available at a local walmart as rootstock. I bought one. If i find a nursery that has it i will buy more, but i like growing "weird" plants that no one has heard of, like soapberries, kumquats, that sort of thing.
Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
Eucalyptus in southern California; railroads thought they'd be great for building ties out of, they're not, and they're extremely flammable and explode.
I always heard that burning eucalyptus wood was toxic, but now i'm wondering if someone got their signals crossed because pressure treated wood and i think creosote treated wood are toxic when burned, too? I heard it as a teen, at school they took down a couple 100' eucalyptus and said we couldn't have a bonfire because of that reason.