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Finding the trees

Paul M. Kaplowitz

Paul M. Kaplowitz

Joined
Oct 6, 2008
Messages
395
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261
Location
North Charleston, SC
It took me some time, but I finally figured out how to get the trees I wanted. I live on the coastal plain of South Carolina ( the low country ) and there are not a lot of great hard woods native to this area. But there are a lot of great trees that were planted in the cities and old neigborhoods as ornamentals over 50 years ago. In this area in order to take down a tree 16" in diameter or larger you have to obtain a permit from the town. I went to see the town officials, explained what I was interested in, left them a list of trees I wanted, and made the case of saving the trees from the land fill. A promise of some bowls may have helped. Now these town officials e-mail me when they permit a tree and I contact the home owner. So far - 36" Elm, 20" dia. cherry, 18" sycamore, 22" Magnolia, 24" Pecan and a 16" Hickory. I can't believe I didn't think of this before. I mean I'm so bright my ma used to call me sunny.:cool2:
 
Dear Sunny,

good thinking, better follow up, thanks for the tip!!!!!!!! 😀
 
Way to go Paul!

Our turners club just capitalized on the need for the city to take down trees in the Ames City Parks that were severely damaged by excessive winds during a storm back in August. Talking with the city park supervisor and the tree service guys, we were permitted to go into the area of the park where the logs were being staged and to take as much wood as we wanted - that much less they had to deal with to chip and/or remove. We got lots of walnut, hackberry, hickory, ash, and a few others.... a crew of 6 guys with 4 chainsaws and some trucks and trailers on a Saturday morning removed quite a bit of the workload for the guys who would otherwise had to have handled this wood, and remove it. A win-win for all concerned. We were fortunate to get most of a 100+ year old hickory that will be converted into turned items - that tree has seen the city grow around it - shame it had to come down.

I just hate to see good wood wasted on landfill-type disposal...

Rob Wallace
 
El Paso Texas

I someday might be relocating to El Paso Texas. 🙁 I was there last April. I noticed there isn't a tree trunk bigger than my leg in the whole city!! 😱 But you can buy a house for the price of a truck load of bowl blanks!

I'll have to drive for days to find turning stock. But there is a turning club there. It must be the hub for the Pen turners of America. 😀

I'll keep ya posted
El Paso bound


Curtis Thompson
 
Curtis Thompson said:
I someday might be relocating to El Paso Texas. 🙁 I was there last April. I noticed there isn't a tree trunk bigger than my leg in the whole city!! 😱 But you can buy a house for the price of a truck load of bowl blanks!
Click to expand...

Curtis:

In El Paso, you will not find any of the tree species which are more typical of eastern deciduous forests (maple, cherry, walnut, ash, oak, etc.). The ecological region that El Paso is in is part of the more widespread Chihuahuan Desert region, and although there will be hardwood species there, they will not achieve the same size as trees native to other regions with more rainfall and generally lower temperatures.

You will likely be able to get your hands on some mesquite (Prosopis sp.), desert ironwood (Olneya tesota), and perhaps some other desert tree species from around there such as palo verde (Parkinsonia/Cercidium sp.- mostly P. microphylla). Many of these are slow-growing trees with wood having interesting figure, color, and texture; these make great woodturning stock. I have seen beautiful pieces made from all of these species.

It is not unheard of to trade wood with other turners from different regions of the USA (although cautions must be taken to avoid spreading problem insects and invasive species). All is not lost!

I have spent considerable time doing research in the Chihuahuan Desert (....as well as the Sonoran, Atacama, Namib, and Karroo deserts too) and it is a fascinating place.

Rob Wallace
 
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It has been almost 50 years since I left El Paso for the greener parts of Texas😀 to the east. I doubt if the plant life has changed much since then. The only tree growing in natural settings to any size for turning blanks in that part of the state were the cottonwoods. And those were all in the valley within a mile or so of the river. I had to move a couple hundred miles to the east to discover that mesquites grew to something other than a scraggly bush. Fortunately for my woodturning hobby, I now live in a part of the state where fairly good sized mesquite trees are the norm and the supply of potential mesquite turning blanks exceeds my turning time😀.

Charlie M
 
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