December 5, 2017 - by Area Forester Lisa Deaton Baby Longleaf Last week was finally time to plant a longleaf pine project. The landowner had spent over a year preparing a 17-acre cutover site for these seedlings. Longleaf pine is known for its very long needles, huge pine cones, very strong “heart pine” lumber, and the naval stores it can produce. The longleaf seedlings are in the planters’ bags. As you can see, the... Read More
November 28, 2017 - by Area Forester Lisa Deaton ‘Tis the Season! Trees provide us with a colorful show every autumn, and then reveal yet more “decorations” once the leaves are gone. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows in the tops of trees. The American holly berries are ripe. Partridgeberry is one of my favorites for its fall berries and white flowers in the spring. Running cedar can form quite a carpet,... Read More
November 21, 2017 - by Area Forester Lisa Deaton A Day of Double Takes It is still close enough to Halloween that I thought I saw a ghost in the woods last week. Upon looking closer, it was just a tarp, but it was hanging very high in this tree. It protected a hunter’s tree stand at one time. Then a bright red dot on a yellow-poplar caught my eye. I think it... Read More
November 14, 2017 - by Area Forester Lisa Deaton Mushrooms! When you work in the woods every day, it can be joyful to see something new. After the rain last week, quite a variety of mushrooms sprouted. The most unusual one I saw was hairy on top. These mushrooms were so tiny I almost missed them. This mushroom is keeping company with a small army of lichens, and perhaps fungi, on the decaying log... Read More
November 8, 2017 - Snack Time by DOF Area Forester Lisa Deaton Last week I was asked to see if a 16-year-old loblolly pine plantation had grown large enough for a commercial thinning. I was perplexed to find what looked like pieces of honeycomb on the ground. There were no large hollow trees nearby, just young, solid pine trees. Then I noticed that there were several pieces of it scattered around a nearby hole... Read More
October 30, 2017 - by Lisa Deaton, DOF Area Forester It’s Deer Time! Last week I walked around a forested property to prepare a Stewardship Plan for a private landowner. It felt like I had entered the kingdom of deer. With new food sources ripening every day and the excitement of mating season, the white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, are on the move. Many people are familiar with the sight of buck rubs on small trees... Read More
