WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Seems to be a lot of rust or leaf diseases going around this year. We’re also getting quite a bit of calls about the lack of fruit. For the most part, it seems that the lack of fruit is due to last year’s abundantContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? You’ve heard the saying before, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” In other words, something will always grow in, where something dies. The photo above is something I find all-too-often, especially on State Forest Preserve where huge swaths of hemlock stands are succumbing to hemlock woollyContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? One thing that keeps me coming to the woods, is that you never know what you might find. The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but I love finding these “rocky rooms” often found in & around cliff faces while going up these mountains.Continue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? A lot of people–I find–love trees. But there is a time to throw in the towel. This red maple isn’t having it. Maple is one tree that isn’t too happy to have its roots squashed or compacted by sitework. Normally in 10 years orContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? One cool thing to see in the woods are “pit and mound” topography. The “pit” is formed when a tree is uprooted and usually blown over by wind creating a depression where the tree’s root-ball once existed. Over time, the upturned root-ball becomes aContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? It seems that most of the American ginseng I find is located in the western Catskills. This has always perplexed me. The only thing I can come up with is that deer browse seems worse in the southern & eastern Catskills. Yes, deer doContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? It’s amazing just how ignorant one can be about what’s going on, on the other side of a mountain. I recently had a Consultation on a member’s property that had me driving down from the Ashokan Reservoir towards Lomontville. Holy cow, they had someContinue Reading