Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I bought a two hundred year old farmhouse on
ten acres in northeast corner of Vermont, and it's been
in the same family since it was built, and the
woman that owned it about one hundred and sixty five
years ago when her son was killed in the Civil War.
They back then, they used to plant these trees in
(00:21):
people's front yards and they lost a child or a
kid in the Civil War. So I had this tree that's,
you know, around one hundred and sixty five years old,
and it's beautiful. It's a poplar, but they're not very
strong trees. And so about a month ago, something that
looks like a tree from DC fell in my yard.
(00:41):
It was just a limb off of it, and we
realized it was diseased. So I had to have it
taken down yesterday. So it was a little sad because
I was thinking of not only the person that died,
but this poor tree has been sitting there for one
hundred and sixty five years.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Isn't that crazy? One hundred and sixty five year old tree.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I love that he knows the history of it, though
I do too.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh And I don't know why I get like this,
but I do.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And I'm the furthest thing from a nature guy. I
am a total city kid. Why does it bother me
whenever there's an old tree that has to come down.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
I mean, you think about.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
It, I know, and I go ahead. Well, I was
just going to say, I live in a town of
five hundred people. So I literally sent an email out
to every email I had because I was fearing judgment
from people driving by because so many people lived there forever,
and I wanted them to know it was because of
the disease, not because I would ever take such a
beautiful tree down.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
And there was no way to save it after one
hundred and sixty five years.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
No, the fear was that was going to come down
on my house, and when they brought it down the way,
the rotten part of it is the arborists could see
that when it fell, like probably this next winter, it
would have fallen towards the house and just taken out
the house in my bedroom.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
How big, how big around? I'm like, I know you
said it was a poplar tree. I don't know what
any kind of tree is, so I have no idea is.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Yeah, the arborist was, it's about six foot two and once.
That's the main trunk. When he brought it down, he
laid out on it like spread eagles sort of or not,
you know, like straight up and down. So there was
still like another two feet above his head from his
feet his feet to that.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
By the way I'm looking, I can see the picture now, Dude.
That tree is enormous.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And baby girl was terrified when it fell down. She
thought the ground was coming out from under her.
Speaker 5 (02:41):
You know, the beagle, Yeah right, I gotta tell you.
And by the.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Way, baby girl she came with that name. I didn't
give it to her.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
That's fine, that's fine. You do what you gotta do.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
The why like that story, I don't know why, but
that story touched me. And I think part of it
is I think, yes, part of it is, like maybe
because you know the history of it. But you could
have just said that you had one hundred and sixty
five year old tree in your yard, and I think
I think my reaction would have been the same. And
(03:12):
I don't and I don't know why that is, but
that tree has been around for a hundred.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
And sixty five years.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Andy. Granted you didn't know it was it was dying
or anything. And that's fine. And I'm sure if it
was salvageable, you would have salvaged dead.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
But that really like, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I don't how old is a tree in my yard?
Ten years old, twenty years old? I have no idea.
I have no idea how old any.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
Of the trees are in my yard.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I know that they're older than seven years old, or
how long have I lived in that house ten years?
I know they're older than ten years old. I don't
know how old any of the trees are. I have
no idea count the rings.
Speaker 5 (03:51):
There was a you gotta cut it down in order
to count it.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
There was a tree in the neighborhood in false Church
that I lived in that they think is two hundred
years old, and that's amazing to me, amazing.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
And again I don't. I don't. I'm not a nature guy.
Speaker 6 (04:07):
But you do often get sentimental when it comes to
old trees.
Speaker 7 (04:11):
But like he said, at on top of it, yeah,
knowing the stories, the story, the story is the story
behind how that tree came to be is pretty special.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I thought of you all day yesterday when it was happening,
because I know you love trees.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Oh well, thank you. I had to send it to you.
I also can't.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I also can't imagine that feeling of like wanting to
reach out to your neighbors to tell them, hey, I'm
not just tearing down this old tree. Here's why. And
I think I think maybe that's part of it. Like
if I had a really old tree, I don't know
if I would have gone to the extreme that you did,
But I think if I had an old tree, like
(04:53):
and whether it was attached to somebody who died in
the Civil War or not, but I just had I
had one hundred and fifty year old tree in my yard,
I think that I would have this feeling of guilt
about taking it down. Whether and again I'm not Jason,
I'm not saying you did anything wrong. You don't want
you know, what's more important than that tree?
Speaker 5 (05:12):
You in that house?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, so I get that, But I think I would
feel this, this this feeling of I'm doing something wrong
and you're not.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
But by taking down the tree, but for.
Speaker 6 (05:24):
What angle did he reach out to the community. Was
it more the age of the tree or that it
was planted in the memory of someone.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
That's a good question, Jason.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Both you know it's a community where people have lived
for generations and generations and their families have so a
lot of them, you know, generations back. Knew the young
man and knew the family. So I think it was
partially that and then partially wanting people just not to
think that I was this guy from Maine that came
in and was by the way, it's getting that I'm
painting the house next week, so I'm sure the neighbors
(05:55):
would think I was just like.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
You're removing, Yeah, you're just as usual.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I'm not that person.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I moved from not no offense to those living in DC,
but I moved away from DC to not judge it
up because I like the country life.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah no, no, that's great, that's great. Good for you,
Good for you. So what do you and is the wood?
Is the wood so sick? I don't I don't know
what's the word damage?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Rotted that see like the middle of it, it's all hauled
out right.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
So can you not use it for I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
By the way, I have no idea what you would
use it for, But can you not use it for anything?
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Well, I don't want to spoil y'all your the Christmas
presents for you all this year. But I'm getting a
lot of bowls made out of them, and so you
you all might get a bowl for the studio.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
Cute.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yes, I'm all seriousness. There is some of the wood
that's from the limbs that was you know, still good.
So I know a local bull maker who's going to
make a lot of bulls.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Can I just add, is it one bowl for all
of us to use?
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Ers of fort Now you each get your home because
I'm at a christen our wedding present.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Hey, that's a good idea. Hey, send me two bowls
and I'll give her one.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Excell and I Hey, one last question, one last question
for you. Like the picture that I see is the
arborous guy laying on the stump?
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Are they going to take the stump out?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Like, don't the roots of that thing have to be
as like big as the property?
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yes, so that's a good question. So yes, they're gonna
have to grind the stump that particular tree. The I
asked him how far down the roots go? He said
they go down one and a half times the height
of the tree.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
Oh my god, there's no way.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yes, it's crazy. So we have to take care of it.
Otherwise we're gonna have a massive full in our yard
and dogs and kids falling in is.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Don't they also say, I can't believe that the that
the roots go down one and a half times the
height of the tree number one, number two? Don't they
say that the roots go out forget down?
Speaker 5 (07:51):
And I don't I heard this once. I could be wrong.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Roots go out as far as the canopy of a
tree goes out.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Possibly my basement doesn't have any roots coming in it,
but maybe they're walls blocking it.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
I don't know, but it's probably some trees.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Also, this morning, when I was walking, I have four beagles.
By the way, I mean I was walking them. There
was a little bear cub playing in front of the
house eating apples.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
And now you have three beagles.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Cute.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
All right, very good, Jason.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Hey, I'm solly real quick. I just want to say
thank you. I mean, I didn't expect you to talk
about it. I send stuff y'all just because y'all are
nice and like looking at things. But it means a
lot to me that you kind of honored the tree
by doing this so much.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you, absolutely, thank you, Jason. You're an excellent correspondent.
Thank you, sir, thank you. But like, remember there was
that old tree in Florida, the ambassador or the senator
or a senator rather. That really bothered me. Also, but
I'm a real pussy when it comes to the free No,
I really am.
Speaker 6 (08:52):
But there was the one was it in that went?
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Yes? Yes.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
However, the other thing the story reminds me of is
the story behind the tree. And again this goes back
maybe a year or so ago. There was a house
purchased and there was a man made memorial to someone
who had perished in a car accident on the sort
(09:21):
of the perimeter of the home. You couldn't see it
from inside, but there was some shrubbery do you recall
this at all vague? That was blocking it. And it
was requested that you, the new homeowner or the person
in the article, keep up the memorial.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
I believe I said take that tree down.
Speaker 6 (09:42):
Well, it wasn't a tree.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
You were going to take the home memorial down?
Speaker 5 (09:46):
Yeah it was, Yeah, I.
Speaker 6 (09:47):
Think it was. Maybe it wasn't like a ghost bike,
but it was something like. That's that's why I said
man made. It wasn't something planted, right you You definitely.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Said get down that it's it's goodbye.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
No no one else but your own. Yeah, that's different, though,
that's different.
Speaker 6 (10:04):
So often people do plant trees or gardens four family
members who have passed away, or pets that have passed away.
You would always leave up a natural element.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
No because no, no, because you just listed three tree yes,
garden No, and there was one other one like like
flowers or a garden or something. No, sorry, that's gone.
That's gone. I don't have a garden, I don't have plants.
(10:38):
Tree I would leave up. I'm I am a sucker
for a tree. I told you, if I ever see
a redwood with my own eyes, I'll cry.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
And I certainly believe that. But I just I just
it's a little hypocritical.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
It is, but not.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I mean, I get it, but it sounds hypocritical. But
that tree has been around and living, living, living, now, that.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Garden may have been alive for one hundred and sixty
five years, and.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I get me a mower the but there's something about
the tree and there they're strong and they're majestic.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
That picture is amazing. And a guy laying on the trunk.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
See, to me, it's more amazing that that thing is
one hundred and sixty five years old.
Speaker 6 (11:25):
I don't know if I can post this photo?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Why, well, it was sent privately, Jason. Can we post it? Yes,
it's good for your voice? Your voice? Where am I going?
Speaker 6 (11:40):
What if the person asked you or told you the
story behind the memorial garden or tree? What what if
the like this tree was taken down because it was
obviously a.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Dai Yeah, yeah, I get that.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
Like we planted a tree when I was younger at
my grandparents' house and it just it never grew. We
thought it was gonna be this massive thing. The last
time I saw it, which would have been now ten
years ago, but also thirty years after we planted it,
it didn't even make it higher than the fence the
fence line.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
So but what if not a big majestic tree goodbye?
Speaker 6 (12:17):
But granted it wasn't planted in somebody's memory, right, but
if you heard the story behind it and the reason
it was done, and it was a big family to do,
you're knotting nothing done. You have to say, say you want.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
It thirty years old?
Speaker 6 (12:34):
Do something to be with the fence, or do you
have to tear up the old fence?
Speaker 4 (12:36):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (12:37):
Tree's gone.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Tree's gone. The tree is also not one hundred years old.
I don't know at what point that tree becomes valuable
to me?
Speaker 3 (12:44):
No, no, I really don't you agree with the sentimental
part of it?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Yeah, well yeah, or just the age of it, just
the age of it. Like I don't know, Like if
I had a ninety year old tree in my yard,
would I be like I have a ninety year old tree, probably,
But if I have a forty year old tree, so what'll.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
It'll never see a hundred.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
Oh, here's a over two hundred year old tree.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
And I'm the only one that finds that amazing. A
two hundred year old tree that's still alive and growing.
That's amazing to me. And yet I don't know why. No,
I really don't. I really don't. Line six, I'm a
(13:39):
pussy for a tree. Hi, Ellie of the morning. Yeah, Hi,
who's this?
Speaker 8 (13:46):
Hi? This is Bonnie.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
Yes, I live.
Speaker 8 (13:49):
I live in Prince William County and I am a
huge old tree lover as well. And growing up I
had some ginaormous maple trees that had once grown on
a plantation and grew up in south central Virginia. But
for years I drew on my way from Prince William
(14:12):
into Fairfax where I teach, there was this magnificent oak
tree and I just I loved that tree. And the
year before COVID it died, like just suddenly, the whole
tree just died. And when they cut that thing down,
(14:34):
there was like I was in tears. There was actually
a whole community discussion about this tree.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Sure again, I get that, But you know what, can
I can I tell you this? Can I tell you this?
Hold on one second.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I can't tell you anywhere that there's a nice tree
around here, around here around my house, like and God
bless her, Like she was like, oh, I has this
tree and I love it. Yeah, I can't tell you
there's a tree that I love at all. I can't
even think of a tree.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
But like that.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
You tell me that tree is two hundred years old
and I love it. You tell me that that tree
is one hundred and sixty five years old and I
love it. I could walk by that tree every day
without knowing anything about it, and I'd be like, it's
a tree.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
But the second.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
Can't pick out No.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I don't see beauty in the tree until I know
it's beautifu.
Speaker 6 (15:35):
Until you're told to admire it, you know, like sepel.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
The yes one hundred percent, Like the one hundred and
sixty five year old tree that that Jason sent us,
like it's enormous, but I'm I'm guessing it's not the
only enormous tree in Vermont, right, So it's like, what
do they always say basketball players don't look tall because
they're around other basketball players. Whatever that's saying is nothing,
(16:01):
But when you see them like by themselves, You're like,
holy crap, that's tall.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
I bet that one.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Hundred and sixty five year old tree looks like a
thousand other trees. So I wouldn't walk by it, didn't
think anything of it. But now that I know it's
one hundred and sixty five years old, I'm like, God, damn,
that's special.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
Yeah, the two hundred year old tree is special.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I don't know of any special trees, but I but
I know I love them.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Do I have that drop?
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Yep, that's a special.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Here here's Elliott loves the trees.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
Where am I going? Line five? Hi? Elliott, the morning,
Good morning Elliott.
Speaker 7 (16:44):
Hi?
Speaker 5 (16:45):
Who's this?
Speaker 4 (16:46):
This is Gary Coleman, the professor at university.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Yes, how are you? How are you, Garrett? How are you?
Speaker 4 (16:55):
I have heard you're talking about trees?
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Yes, sir, Hey, why am I?
Speaker 6 (16:59):
So?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I'll give you the background real quick. There's a there's
a guy who lives in Maine. He's our main correspondent,
much like you're our University of Maryland correspondent.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
He lives in Maine.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And anyway, at this house in Vermont, there was one
hundred and sixty five year old tree that was planted
actually when somebody's son who was fighting in the Civil
War was killed and they planted a tree in their honor.
And the tree is one hundred and sixty five years old.
It got very sick. The tree was going to have
to come down, so they took it down. That's how
we got here.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Why am I? And I and Gary or doctor Coleman?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
You know this.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I'm not an outdoorsy type person. But why is it
when there's an old tree like that, like a two
hundred year old tree or one hundred and fifty year old.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
Tree, why does it?
Speaker 8 (17:44):
Why?
Speaker 5 (17:44):
Why am I such a big woos for that?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Well?
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Because I can't explain why you I know why I
am Because there are majestic things that they've lived there,
you know, year after year after year, going to all
the the things that happen from the environment, and they survive.
They're survivals for you.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
Maybe that's what it is. But now, why is that.
I'm gonna I'm going to blow your mind.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I'm going to blow your mind. Okay, hit me.
Speaker 5 (18:16):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
So the estimated oldest living tree in North America is
a bristle combined in the Great Basin of Utah, and
it's estimated to be forty eight hundred years old.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
No way, no way, forty eight hundred years old.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Yes, yeah, I'll give you another story. And there's a
species in the Western United States called quaking aspen, and uh,
they are reproduced by root suckers that come up, and
so some people estimate that they are actually the oldest
living tree because they haven't in some of these stands
(18:57):
in Utah, they haven't reproduced, I see, in over ten
thousand years. And some of these stands are estimated to
be at least ten thousand years old, and so they
just keep reproducing by sending up a new shoot over
the over time that it's still the same plant, original
plant that started ten thousand years ago.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Wow. Wow, I can't even I can't even fathom that.
I can't even. I can't even. I can't imagine.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
A one more story for you.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
Please.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Years years ago, during the by Centennial, I was involved
with the State of Maryland. There was a tree on
Saint John's campus in Annapolis and they were designated Liberty trees.
And these were trees that were planted during the Revolutionary
War as a memorial to, you know, the fight against
(19:51):
the oppression of England, you know. And this tree was
was a tulipopular LaRod engine toop there for it's in
the magnolia family, and it had been planted during the
Revolutionary War. George Washington had actually been underneath that tree
and my project was trying to propagate it so we
(20:14):
could make clones of it. We were unsuccessful, but that
tree had been there since the Revolutionary War and that
was in two thousand. They had to take it down
because it was about following one of the dormitories.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
See. But that's amazing. That is amazing.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Hey, Like that old tree, that old tree in Utah
that you were talking about, the forty eight hundred year
old one.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Is it protected.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
Its location is kept secret. Oh good, So there's a
few people in the Forest Service and a few people
who know where it is. Be in general it's kept secret.
But Bristol combines in general ones that there are a
number in western United States that are a couple thousand
years old. They don't grow very fast. They grow on
(20:58):
these rocky outcrops ops using on south facing slopes. They're
really harsh conditions, so they don't grow very much each year.
They're not gigantic, huge trees, but they're They're longevity is
just amazing.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
How old? How old are the redwoods? Do you know?
Off the top of your head.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Uh? Some of those I think are two three hundred
years old.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
That's amazing. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Although now I look at it compared to the Utah
thing and go nothing, the uh yeah, but I don't
know why. In doctor Coleman, I am, I'm such a
city kid.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
I don't. I really, I don't care. Like I'm not
a tree guide. Like I can't.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
I can't.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
I was just saying before you called, I can't think
of a tree where I'm like, oh, it's beautiful until
I know that it's an old, old tree like that,
I don't even care. But once I learned that, I
get really sentimental for the thing.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Well, they well they've you know, you know, they haven't
seen it, but they've been in existence for you know,
historical events have taken place, and they're may they're making
organisms because think about that young during the summer, you
see all the leaves on them and they're live, and
they look there live, and then over the winter they
can survive temperatures. There are some tree species I work with,
(22:10):
this species called a true poplar, and those species, once
are fully in the winter, fully cold acclimated, you can
actually plunge the stems into liquid nitrogen minus one hundred
and forty degrees centigrade and they still survive. You do
that during the summer and it will kill it. Wow,
they're amazing. They're amazing creature. That's why I study them.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
No, good for you, good for you, all right, very good,
doctor Gary Coleman.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
I appreciate it. Right out of the University of Maryland.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yes, Gary, it's.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Great to talk to you.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Hey, it's nice to talk to you too, Thank you,
thank you, sir. Wow, love him, love him.
So I bought a two hundred year old farmhouse on
ten acres in northeast corner of Vermont, and it's been
in the same family since it was built, and the
woman that owned it about one hundred and sixty five
years ago when her son was killed in the Civil War.
They back then, they used to plant these trees in
(00:21):
people's front yards and they lost a child or a
kid in the Civil War. So I had this tree that's,
you know, around one hundred and sixty five years old,
and it's beautiful. It's a poplar, but they're not very
strong trees. And so about a month ago, something that
looks like a tree from DC fell in my yard.
(00:41):
It was just a limb off of it, and we
realized it was diseased. So I had to have it
taken down yesterday. So it was a little sad because
I was thinking of not only the person that died,
but this poor tree has been sitting there for one
hundred and sixty five years.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Isn't that crazy? One hundred and sixty five year old tree.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
I love that he knows the history of it, though
I do too.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh And I don't know why I get like this,
but I do.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
And I'm the furthest thing from a nature guy. I
am a total city kid. Why does it bother me
whenever there's an old tree that has to come down.
Speaker 5 (01:20):
I mean, you think about.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
It, I know, and I go ahead. Well, I was
just going to say, I live in a town of
five hundred people. So I literally sent an email out
to every email I had because I was fearing judgment
from people driving by because so many people lived there forever,
and I wanted them to know it was because of
the disease, not because I would ever take such a
beautiful tree down.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
And there was no way to save it after one
hundred and sixty five years.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
No, the fear was that was going to come down
on my house, and when they brought it down the way,
the rotten part of it is the arborists could see
that when it fell, like probably this next winter, it
would have fallen towards the house and just taken out
the house in my bedroom.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
How big, how big around? I'm like, I know you
said it was a poplar tree. I don't know what
any kind of tree is, so I have no idea is.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Yeah, the arborist was, it's about six foot two and once.
That's the main trunk. When he brought it down, he
laid out on it like spread eagles sort of or not,
you know, like straight up and down. So there was
still like another two feet above his head from his
feet his feet to that.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
By the way I'm looking, I can see the picture now, Dude.
That tree is enormous.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
And baby girl was terrified when it fell down. She
thought the ground was coming out from under her.
Speaker 5 (02:41):
You know, the beagle, Yeah right, I gotta tell you.
And by the.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Way, baby girl she came with that name. I didn't
give it to her.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
That's fine, that's fine. You do what you gotta do.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
The why like that story, I don't know why, but
that story touched me. And I think part of it
is I think, yes, part of it is, like maybe
because you know the history of it. But you could
have just said that you had one hundred and sixty
five year old tree in your yard, and I think
I think my reaction would have been the same. And
(03:12):
I don't and I don't know why that is, but
that tree has been around for a hundred.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
And sixty five years.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Andy. Granted you didn't know it was it was dying
or anything. And that's fine. And I'm sure if it
was salvageable, you would have salvaged dead.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
But that really like, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I don't how old is a tree in my yard?
Ten years old, twenty years old? I have no idea.
I have no idea how old any.
Speaker 5 (03:37):
Of the trees are in my yard.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
I know that they're older than seven years old, or
how long have I lived in that house ten years?
I know they're older than ten years old. I don't
know how old any of the trees are. I have
no idea count the rings.
Speaker 5 (03:51):
There was a you gotta cut it down in order
to count it.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
There was a tree in the neighborhood in false Church
that I lived in that they think is two hundred
years old, and that's amazing to me, amazing.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
And again I don't. I don't. I'm not a nature guy.
Speaker 6 (04:07):
But you do often get sentimental when it comes to
old trees.
Speaker 7 (04:11):
But like he said, at on top of it, yeah,
knowing the stories, the story, the story is the story
behind how that tree came to be is pretty special.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
I thought of you all day yesterday when it was happening,
because I know you love trees.
Speaker 5 (04:28):
Oh well, thank you. I had to send it to you.
I also can't.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I also can't imagine that feeling of like wanting to
reach out to your neighbors to tell them, hey, I'm
not just tearing down this old tree. Here's why. And
I think I think maybe that's part of it. Like
if I had a really old tree, I don't know
if I would have gone to the extreme that you did,
But I think if I had an old tree, like
(04:53):
and whether it was attached to somebody who died in
the Civil War or not, but I just had I
had one hundred and fifty year old tree in my yard,
I think that I would have this feeling of guilt
about taking it down. Whether and again I'm not Jason,
I'm not saying you did anything wrong. You don't want
you know, what's more important than that tree?
Speaker 5 (05:12):
You in that house?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, so I get that, But I think I would
feel this, this this feeling of I'm doing something wrong
and you're not.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
But by taking down the tree, but for.
Speaker 6 (05:24):
What angle did he reach out to the community. Was
it more the age of the tree or that it
was planted in the memory of someone.
Speaker 5 (05:31):
That's a good question, Jason.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Both you know it's a community where people have lived
for generations and generations and their families have so a
lot of them, you know, generations back. Knew the young
man and knew the family. So I think it was
partially that and then partially wanting people just not to
think that I was this guy from Maine that came
in and was by the way, it's getting that I'm
painting the house next week, so I'm sure the neighbors
(05:55):
would think I was just like.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
You're removing, Yeah, you're just as usual.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I'm not that person.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I moved from not no offense to those living in DC,
but I moved away from DC to not judge it
up because I like the country life.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah no, no, that's great, that's great. Good for you,
Good for you. So what do you and is the wood?
Is the wood so sick? I don't I don't know
what's the word damage?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Rotted that see like the middle of it, it's all hauled
out right.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
So can you not use it for I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
By the way, I have no idea what you would
use it for, But can you not use it for anything?
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Well, I don't want to spoil y'all your the Christmas
presents for you all this year. But I'm getting a
lot of bowls made out of them, and so you
you all might get a bowl for the studio.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
Cute.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yes, I'm all seriousness. There is some of the wood
that's from the limbs that was you know, still good.
So I know a local bull maker who's going to
make a lot of bulls.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Can I just add, is it one bowl for all
of us to use?
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Ers of fort Now you each get your home because
I'm at a christen our wedding present.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
Hey, that's a good idea. Hey, send me two bowls
and I'll give her one.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Excell and I Hey, one last question, one last question
for you. Like the picture that I see is the
arborous guy laying on the stump?
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Are they going to take the stump out?
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Like, don't the roots of that thing have to be
as like big as the property?
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yes, so that's a good question. So yes, they're gonna
have to grind the stump that particular tree. The I
asked him how far down the roots go? He said
they go down one and a half times the height
of the tree.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
Oh my god, there's no way.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Yes, it's crazy. So we have to take care of it.
Otherwise we're gonna have a massive full in our yard
and dogs and kids falling in is.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Don't they also say, I can't believe that the that
the roots go down one and a half times the
height of the tree number one, number two? Don't they
say that the roots go out forget down?
Speaker 5 (07:51):
And I don't I heard this once. I could be wrong.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Roots go out as far as the canopy of a
tree goes out.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Possibly my basement doesn't have any roots coming in it,
but maybe they're walls blocking it.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
I don't know, but it's probably some trees.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Also, this morning, when I was walking, I have four beagles.
By the way, I mean I was walking them. There
was a little bear cub playing in front of the
house eating apples.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
And now you have three beagles.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Cute.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
All right, very good, Jason.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Hey, I'm solly real quick. I just want to say
thank you. I mean, I didn't expect you to talk
about it. I send stuff y'all just because y'all are
nice and like looking at things. But it means a
lot to me that you kind of honored the tree
by doing this so much.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Thank you, absolutely, thank you, Jason. You're an excellent correspondent.
Thank you, sir, thank you. But like, remember there was
that old tree in Florida, the ambassador or the senator
or a senator rather. That really bothered me. Also, but
I'm a real pussy when it comes to the free No,
I really am.
Speaker 6 (08:52):
But there was the one was it in that went?
Speaker 4 (08:55):
Yes? Yes.
Speaker 6 (08:57):
However, the other thing the story reminds me of is
the story behind the tree. And again this goes back
maybe a year or so ago. There was a house
purchased and there was a man made memorial to someone
who had perished in a car accident on the sort
(09:21):
of the perimeter of the home. You couldn't see it
from inside, but there was some shrubbery do you recall
this at all vague? That was blocking it. And it
was requested that you, the new homeowner or the person
in the article, keep up the memorial.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
I believe I said take that tree down.
Speaker 6 (09:42):
Well, it wasn't a tree.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
You were going to take the home memorial down?
Speaker 5 (09:46):
Yeah it was, Yeah, I.
Speaker 6 (09:47):
Think it was. Maybe it wasn't like a ghost bike,
but it was something like. That's that's why I said
man made. It wasn't something planted, right you You definitely.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Said get down that it's it's goodbye.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
No no one else but your own. Yeah, that's different, though,
that's different.
Speaker 6 (10:04):
So often people do plant trees or gardens four family
members who have passed away, or pets that have passed away.
You would always leave up a natural element.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
No because no, no, because you just listed three tree yes,
garden No, and there was one other one like like
flowers or a garden or something. No, sorry, that's gone.
That's gone. I don't have a garden, I don't have plants.
(10:38):
Tree I would leave up. I'm I am a sucker
for a tree. I told you, if I ever see
a redwood with my own eyes, I'll cry.
Speaker 6 (10:49):
And I certainly believe that. But I just I just
it's a little hypocritical.
Speaker 5 (10:55):
It is, but not.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I mean, I get it, but it sounds hypocritical. But
that tree has been around and living, living, living, now, that.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Garden may have been alive for one hundred and sixty
five years, and.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I get me a mower the but there's something about
the tree and there they're strong and they're majestic.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
That picture is amazing. And a guy laying on the trunk.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
See, to me, it's more amazing that that thing is
one hundred and sixty five years old.
Speaker 6 (11:25):
I don't know if I can post this photo?
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Why, well, it was sent privately, Jason. Can we post it? Yes,
it's good for your voice? Your voice? Where am I going?
Speaker 6 (11:40):
What if the person asked you or told you the
story behind the memorial garden or tree? What what if
the like this tree was taken down because it was
obviously a.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Dai Yeah, yeah, I get that.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
Like we planted a tree when I was younger at
my grandparents' house and it just it never grew. We
thought it was gonna be this massive thing. The last
time I saw it, which would have been now ten
years ago, but also thirty years after we planted it,
it didn't even make it higher than the fence the
fence line.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
So but what if not a big majestic tree goodbye?
Speaker 6 (12:17):
But granted it wasn't planted in somebody's memory, right, but
if you heard the story behind it and the reason
it was done, and it was a big family to do,
you're knotting nothing done. You have to say, say you want.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
It thirty years old?
Speaker 6 (12:34):
Do something to be with the fence, or do you
have to tear up the old fence?
Speaker 4 (12:36):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (12:37):
Tree's gone.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
Tree's gone. The tree is also not one hundred years old.
I don't know at what point that tree becomes valuable
to me?
Speaker 3 (12:44):
No, no, I really don't you agree with the sentimental
part of it?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Yeah, well yeah, or just the age of it, just
the age of it. Like I don't know, Like if
I had a ninety year old tree in my yard,
would I be like I have a ninety year old tree, probably,
But if I have a forty year old tree, so what'll.
Speaker 5 (13:06):
It'll never see a hundred.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
Oh, here's a over two hundred year old tree.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
And I'm the only one that finds that amazing. A
two hundred year old tree that's still alive and growing.
That's amazing to me. And yet I don't know why. No,
I really don't. I really don't. Line six, I'm a
(13:39):
pussy for a tree. Hi, Ellie of the morning. Yeah, Hi,
who's this?
Speaker 8 (13:46):
Hi? This is Bonnie.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
Yes, I live.
Speaker 8 (13:49):
I live in Prince William County and I am a
huge old tree lover as well. And growing up I
had some ginaormous maple trees that had once grown on
a plantation and grew up in south central Virginia. But
for years I drew on my way from Prince William
(14:12):
into Fairfax where I teach, there was this magnificent oak
tree and I just I loved that tree. And the
year before COVID it died, like just suddenly, the whole
tree just died. And when they cut that thing down,
(14:34):
there was like I was in tears. There was actually
a whole community discussion about this tree.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
Sure again, I get that, But you know what, can
I can I tell you this? Can I tell you this?
Hold on one second.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
I can't tell you anywhere that there's a nice tree
around here, around here around my house, like and God
bless her, Like she was like, oh, I has this
tree and I love it. Yeah, I can't tell you
there's a tree that I love at all. I can't
even think of a tree.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
But like that.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
You tell me that tree is two hundred years old
and I love it. You tell me that that tree
is one hundred and sixty five years old and I
love it. I could walk by that tree every day
without knowing anything about it, and I'd be like, it's
a tree.
Speaker 5 (15:26):
But the second.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
Can't pick out No.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I don't see beauty in the tree until I know
it's beautifu.
Speaker 6 (15:35):
Until you're told to admire it, you know, like sepel.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
The yes one hundred percent, Like the one hundred and
sixty five year old tree that that Jason sent us,
like it's enormous, but I'm I'm guessing it's not the
only enormous tree in Vermont, right, So it's like, what
do they always say basketball players don't look tall because
they're around other basketball players. Whatever that's saying is nothing,
(16:01):
But when you see them like by themselves, You're like,
holy crap, that's tall.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
I bet that one.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Hundred and sixty five year old tree looks like a
thousand other trees. So I wouldn't walk by it, didn't
think anything of it. But now that I know it's
one hundred and sixty five years old, I'm like, God, damn,
that's special.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
Yeah, the two hundred year old tree is special.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
I don't know of any special trees, but I but
I know I love them.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Do I have that drop?
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Yep, that's a special.
Speaker 6 (16:33):
Here here's Elliott loves the trees.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
Where am I going? Line five? Hi? Elliott, the morning,
Good morning Elliott.
Speaker 7 (16:44):
Hi?
Speaker 5 (16:45):
Who's this?
Speaker 4 (16:46):
This is Gary Coleman, the professor at university.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Yes, how are you? How are you, Garrett? How are you?
Speaker 4 (16:55):
I have heard you're talking about trees?
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Yes, sir, Hey, why am I?
Speaker 6 (16:59):
So?
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I'll give you the background real quick. There's a there's
a guy who lives in Maine. He's our main correspondent,
much like you're our University of Maryland correspondent.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
He lives in Maine.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
And anyway, at this house in Vermont, there was one
hundred and sixty five year old tree that was planted
actually when somebody's son who was fighting in the Civil
War was killed and they planted a tree in their honor.
And the tree is one hundred and sixty five years old.
It got very sick. The tree was going to have
to come down, so they took it down. That's how
we got here.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
Why am I? And I and Gary or doctor Coleman?
Speaker 4 (17:33):
You know this.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I'm not an outdoorsy type person. But why is it
when there's an old tree like that, like a two
hundred year old tree or one hundred and fifty year old.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
Tree, why does it?
Speaker 8 (17:44):
Why?
Speaker 5 (17:44):
Why am I such a big woos for that?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Well?
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Because I can't explain why you I know why I
am Because there are majestic things that they've lived there,
you know, year after year after year, going to all
the the things that happen from the environment, and they survive.
They're survivals for you.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
Maybe that's what it is. But now, why is that.
I'm gonna I'm going to blow your mind.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
I'm going to blow your mind. Okay, hit me.
Speaker 5 (18:16):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
So the estimated oldest living tree in North America is
a bristle combined in the Great Basin of Utah, and
it's estimated to be forty eight hundred years old.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
No way, no way, forty eight hundred years old.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Yes, yeah, I'll give you another story. And there's a
species in the Western United States called quaking aspen, and uh,
they are reproduced by root suckers that come up, and
so some people estimate that they are actually the oldest
living tree because they haven't in some of these stands
(18:57):
in Utah, they haven't reproduced, I see, in over ten
thousand years. And some of these stands are estimated to
be at least ten thousand years old, and so they
just keep reproducing by sending up a new shoot over
the over time that it's still the same plant, original
plant that started ten thousand years ago.
Speaker 5 (19:16):
Wow. Wow, I can't even I can't even fathom that.
I can't even. I can't even. I can't imagine.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
A one more story for you.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
Please.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Years years ago, during the by Centennial, I was involved
with the State of Maryland. There was a tree on
Saint John's campus in Annapolis and they were designated Liberty trees.
And these were trees that were planted during the Revolutionary
War as a memorial to, you know, the fight against
(19:51):
the oppression of England, you know. And this tree was
was a tulipopular LaRod engine toop there for it's in
the magnolia family, and it had been planted during the
Revolutionary War. George Washington had actually been underneath that tree
and my project was trying to propagate it so we
(20:14):
could make clones of it. We were unsuccessful, but that
tree had been there since the Revolutionary War and that
was in two thousand. They had to take it down
because it was about following one of the dormitories.
Speaker 5 (20:25):
See. But that's amazing. That is amazing.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Hey, Like that old tree, that old tree in Utah
that you were talking about, the forty eight hundred year
old one.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Is it protected.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
Its location is kept secret. Oh good, So there's a
few people in the Forest Service and a few people
who know where it is. Be in general it's kept secret.
But Bristol combines in general ones that there are a
number in western United States that are a couple thousand
years old. They don't grow very fast. They grow on
(20:58):
these rocky outcrops ops using on south facing slopes. They're
really harsh conditions, so they don't grow very much each year.
They're not gigantic, huge trees, but they're They're longevity is
just amazing.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
How old? How old are the redwoods? Do you know?
Off the top of your head.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Uh? Some of those I think are two three hundred
years old.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
That's amazing. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Although now I look at it compared to the Utah
thing and go nothing, the uh yeah, but I don't
know why. In doctor Coleman, I am, I'm such a
city kid.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
I don't. I really, I don't care. Like I'm not
a tree guide. Like I can't.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
I can't.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
I was just saying before you called, I can't think
of a tree where I'm like, oh, it's beautiful until
I know that it's an old, old tree like that,
I don't even care. But once I learned that, I
get really sentimental for the thing.
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Well, they well they've you know, you know, they haven't
seen it, but they've been in existence for you know,
historical events have taken place, and they're may they're making
organisms because think about that young during the summer, you
see all the leaves on them and they're live, and
they look there live, and then over the winter they
can survive temperatures. There are some tree species I work with,
(22:10):
this species called a true poplar, and those species, once
are fully in the winter, fully cold acclimated, you can
actually plunge the stems into liquid nitrogen minus one hundred
and forty degrees centigrade and they still survive. You do
that during the summer and it will kill it. Wow,
they're amazing. They're amazing creature. That's why I study them.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
No, good for you, good for you, all right, very good,
doctor Gary Coleman.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
I appreciate it. Right out of the University of Maryland.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yes, Gary, it's.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Great to talk to you.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Hey, it's nice to talk to you too, Thank you,
thank you, sir. Wow, love him, love him.
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