Live Oaks in Mobile Ala.   tuce-@msn.com
  Mar 27, 2007 05:41 PST 

ENTS,                                                                  
Last weekend I had a little extra time to stop in Mobile, Ala., in seach
of large Live Oak trees. As you enter Downtown from the west along Hwy.
90, you are engulfed by hundreds of Oaks on both sides of the road. The
trees cover the roadway with a canopy of limbs unmatched in all but a
few places in the South. Flowers abound here as do the Historic Homes
along the way. I measured two of the larger Oaks and here are the
results. The McGowin-Zoghby Home Oak, CBH-24'6", Spread-120.5',
Height-57',located at 1151 Hwy 90. The Central Park Condos Oak,
CBH-25'1", Spread-142', and Height-75'. Located at 1110 Hwy 90. The
average CBH of the Oaks lining the Hwy is about 16-18', quite a site
running the lenght of 90 for about 2 miles. Ed, I'll send some photos.
These two Oaks are the new #9 and # 12 on our listing. Bob,I wish you
could have seen all the flowers here. 

Larry
Mobile Live Oaks, Al Larry Tucei
March 28, 2007


ENTS

Here are the two latest measured Live Oaks, the new #10, The Central Park Condo Oak, located at 1110 Hwy 90, Mobile, Ala., CBH-25'1", Spread-145' and Height-75'. 
DSC04761a.JPG (102611 bytes) DSC04760a.JPG (168351 bytes)

The new #13, The McGowen-Zoghby Oak, located at 1151 Hwy 90, Mobile, Ala., CBH-24'6", Spread-120.5' and Height 57'.    

DSC04754a.JPG (114506 bytes) 

McGowan Oak

 DSC04757a.JPG (186149 bytes) 

McGowan Oak

Lawrence Tucei Jr.

 

Back to Larry   dbhg-@comcast.net
  Mar 27, 2007 06:58 PST 
Larry,

    As a consequence of your excellent reports on live oaks, I've started carrying a magnifier with me for looking at the trees up here in New England. I pop the magnifier in front of my eye and exclaim to myself: "What a huge tree! Bet Larry would be jealous."

    Joking aside, I'm utterly amazed at the abundance of 20-ft girth live oaks growing in the deep South. If you ever succeed in breaking 40 feet on a single tree, we'll have to come down there and have a celebration. Maybe we can get Pamela Briggs to write a novel about the live oak as a sequel to her book on the Linden.

    What also amazes me about the live oaks is their crown spreads. We need to think through the geometry of these magnificent trees. Height is of little consequence. It is all about trunk girth and crown spread, but also about crown complexity. Perhaps we need measurements for individual limbs to better tell the story of each tree and to provide more meaningful comparisons.

     Can you describe the flowering spectacles you are witnessing?

Bob
RE: Back to Larry   tuce-@msn.com
  Mar 27, 2007 12:00 PST 

Bob,                                                                   
Dogwood trees along the roadways are everywhere, dwarfed by the Oaks and
Pines, but stand majesticly with there brilliant white flowers. Small in
stature but large in abundance. Azaleas of every color abound in public
parks, private property and along city streets. The colors are so
brilliant, some bushes 30' accross. Wild azalea with its pink and white
blossoms are putting on quite a show if you lucky enough to find them in
the forest. Cherokee Rose growing along some roadsides are 40' high
climbing into the trees. Yellow Jasmine and Trumpet Vine also are
putting on a show. I have some photos, I'll send Ed.   

Southern Spring

Larry