Connemara Flat Rock NC

Connemara, Flat Rock, NC

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TOPIC: Connemara, Flat Rock NC
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/1c22e0bd6917a522?hl=en
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== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Mon, Feb 11 2008 10:39 pm
From: James Parton

ENTS,

Sunday, after visiting the Memenger Tuliptree I went just down the street to do a little hiking on the Carl Sandburg Estate, also known as Connemara. Once owned by famed poet and songwriter Carl Sandburg it has been owned since 1967 by the National Park Service. Here is a link to the NPS website.

http://www.nps.gov/carl/

The forest here had been held by the Sandburgs and the families before for a considerable number of years and there are some trees of considerable age on the property. Some possibly exceeding 300 years! Will Blozan did a visit here a while back and found trees of considerable age.

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/north_carolina/carl_sandburg_home.htm

I hiked around the lake finding some nice White Pines, some approaching 10' cbh and well over 100 feet tall. On the Memenger trail I found an oak that had been cut off the trail. At 15 ft up the trunk it was 21 inches thick and had 156 growth rings! The rings at the center are very close together. A few inches out they spread out a little only to get really close together again before reaching the bark. The rings are separated, at their widest by no more than 5 mm and at the narrowest by about 1mm. I often carry a pocket magnifier and it often comes handy in cases like this! Another cut tree was found up the Little Glassy trail and I counted it's rings to 104. It is 14 inches across cut about 10 feet up the trunk of the tree.

Chestnut_Oak_Connemara.JPG (70538 bytes) 8' 11.25 inches Chestnut Oak

Near the summit of Little Glassy Mountain, off-trail I find a really nice Chestnut Oak. It is quite gnarly and 10' 6 3/4' across. Judging by the ring counts of the smaller trees and Will's findings of the trees in this area, it is probably very old. 300 years, maybe older. It's nice finding such old trees so close to home! Another big Chestnut Oak, just a little smaller was found just a short distance away. Sweeet......

10ft+6.75in+Chestnut+Oak_Connemara.JPG (69955 bytes) 10' 6.75 inch cbh Chestnut Oak

Another oak stump, this one quite weathered, about 2.5 feet across is found down near the lake proved not as old. It's rings proved hard to count because of the condition of the stump but I had a rough count of about 100 rings. This tells me that the trees, not surprisingly grow faster near the water than the ones found up on the ridges.

Going up towards the house a nice Tuliptree is found near the road. It is better than 11 feet cbh. Near the house is another large tree. I have no idea what type it is. It's girth is a considerable 13' 10". English Ivy grows profusely on it's trunk. I remember it having small leaves back during the summer. Maybe someone on ENTS knows what it is?

American Elm

Here is the CBH measurements of the trees I measured.

White Pine 9' 4"
Chestnut Oak 10' 2" ( MT )
Chestnut Oak 10' 6 3/4" ( Nice Tree! )
Pitch Pine 5' 8 1/4"
Chestnut Oak 8' 11 1/4"
Tuliptree 11' 3 1/4"
? 13' 10'' ( Near House )
White Pine 8' 4 1/4"

I have attached some pictures for all to see and check out two on the file page. Check out the " caboose " on that oak!
I look forward to another more detailed visit here. This place has much to offer!

Caboose_Oak_Connemara.jpg (85458 bytes)

Caboose Oak

James Parton

== 2 of 3 ==
Date: Tues, Feb 12 2008 8:00 am
From: James Parton

Will,

Yes, the " mystery Tree " tree has a cable in it! It is a beautiful
tree. I suppose this one was planted. Probably when the house was
built over 100 years ago. Was American Elm more common around here in
past years?

American Elm and Holly

American Elm

We had an exotic elm in our yard on Starnes Cove where I
grew up and smaller elms are to be found in the area my father lives
at in Lowndesville SC. I don't think they are American Elms though. I
have never seen an elm even close to the size of the Sandburg one.

James

== 3 of 3 ==
Date: Tues, Feb 12 2008 10:23 am
From: James Parton

ENTS,

The NPS actually aquired the Sandburg Estate in 1969. Here are more
facts on Connemara.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sandburg_Home_National_Historic_Site

JP

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TOPIC: More Connemara/Nikon 440
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/4f944bd0042e3f6d?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Thurs, Mar 27 2008 9:29 pm
From: James Parton

ENTS,

Joy and I made another trip to the Carl Sandburg Estate, known as Connemara. It is a place of really nice trees once owned by the late author Carl Sandburg. The property has been in private hands for well over 100 years so the trees have had time to reach really good size.

http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/north_carolina/connemara/connemara_flat_rock_nc.htm

Here are some CBH measurements from the outing.

White Pine 9' 5 3/4"
White Pine 10' 1"
White Oak 8' 4 1/4"
White Oak 10' 10"
Chestnut Oak 9' 9 3/4"
Chestnut Oak 15' 3" ( Nice big tree! )
White Oak 13' 1/2"
Sycamore 11' 4"
White Oak 13' 7 1/2"
Chestnut Oak 12' 7 1/2"
Tuliptree 12' 4" ( Rough laser height to a high limb taken from under the tree came out to 128 feet. The top was well higher.)
Eastern Hemlock 9' 10" ( Treated and healthy! )
White Oak 11' 5"
White Oak 12' 10"

Other previously measured trees were re-visited too.

Also. Today I bought a Nikon Prostaff 440 rangefinder. I carried it with me and did some rough shots with it into the canopy. Now I must learn to use it correctly. I now aim to buy a clinometer. I hope in the future I will be doing ENTS quality measurements and become one of the " elite " measurers.

James Parton

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