Sunday, November 14, 2021

Cedar Boughs

 Evaluating a valley in the Olympics earlier this fall I noted these cropped trees. 



The limbing was not for creating views through the forest, but was a partial harvest of the tree boughs for evergreen arrangements and/or wreaths. The trees in this case are western red cedar. And this was an allowed operation by the land owner. Evergreen foliage is a big business on the Olympic Peninsula and southwest Washington, and unfortunately some of that business is illegal harvesting. It is particularly problematic in young tree stands as the removal of branches and even the tips of the trees destroys the tree plantation. The very fact that the trees above were scaled and limbed (by hand) in the manner they were indicates the value of these products.  

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pseudotsuga Arecaceae?

Dan McShane said...

Does create a tropical look!

Mike Riley said...

I saw an example of usage similar to this above the old visitors center at the St. Helens National Monument. There it was Noble firs and appeared to be quite extensive.