In this episode, we discuss the fascinating Anatomy and Array of Beautiful Bark, noting a selection of trees inspired by a talk given by Bruce Crawford, the Manager of Horticulture of the Morris County Park Commission (NJ).
We wrap up with an analogy of our skin, which developed just as the bark of trees based on our areas of origin. And how metaphorically, we grow thicker skin with life challenges. But we can exfoliate by forgiving and begin to flourish.
I hope you enjoy the story.
Related Stories and Helpful Links:
Anatomy & Array of Beautiful Bark
Episode 45 Beloved Mr. Beech (Link to Blog Post Beloved Beech Trees)
Episode 132 Shagbark Hickories – Nutty Mast Years – (Link to Blog Post)
The story of my Unexpected Furry Messenger Episode 20 - (Link to Blog Post)
Morris County Park Commission
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I'd love to hear about your garden and nature stories. And your thoughts about topics for future podcast episodes. You can email me at AskMaryStone@gmail.com. Thanks so much for tuning in.
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Episode web page —Garden Dilemmas Podcast Page
Thank you for sharing the Garden of Life,
Mary Stone, Columnist & Garden Designer
AskMaryStone.com
More about the Podcast and Column:
Welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights, and Discoveries.
It's not only about gardens; it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Thanks for tuning in, Mary Stone
Garden Dilemmas? AskMaryStone.com
Direct Link to Podcast Page
Ep 148. Anatomy & Array of Beautiful Bark
Sat, Feb 17, 2024 10:32AM • 10:39
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
bark, trees, trunks, wood, grow, leaves, beech, winter, skin, dilemmas, outer bark, stretch marks, porch, beech tree, inner bark, mary, oak furniture, stems, native, mary stone, garden, nature, inspiration
SPEAKERS
Mary Stone
Mary Stone 00:00
Hello fellow lovers of all things green. I'm Mary Stone and welcome to Garden Dilemmas, Delights and Discoveries. It's not only about gardens, it's about nature's inspirations, about grasping the glories of the world around us, gathering what we learned from mother nature, and carrying these lessons into our garden of life. So, let's jump in in the spirit of learning from each other. We have lots to talk about.
Mary Stone 00:25
Hello, there; it's Mary Stone on a very cold screen porch with the snow on the ground. It's just so lovely. I want to thank those of you who reached back after last week's chat about the meaning of Rose colors and Valentine's traditions. Indeed, roses are beautiful, and many of you think so, even though they can be fussy to grow, at least for me. So anyway, today we're going to talk about bark, how beautiful it is, all the different kinds, and the anatomy of bark, and it starts like this.
Mary Stone 00:58
Hello fellow listeners and readers, during winter walks through the woods or along the road with Jolee, the bark of trees takes center stage, especially standing in the snow. The texture and shadows are art. I confess to not being the best at identifying species without leaves unless a few are left on the tree or on the ground nearby. So, I thought Bruce Crawford's talk on Bark Basics at the recent New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association event would help me learn to identify trees in winter. It turned out to be a fascinating lesson on the anatomy of bark and trunks, along with an assortment of trees he admires and the unique features of their bark.
Mary Stone 01:38
I should mention that Bruce Crawford is the manager of horticulture at the Morris County Park Commission here in New Jersey. And so, as he was sharing the slides, many of them were of the trees around the parks that he takes care of. The Cliff Notes version: The trunks of trees are primarily dead tissue to support the tree or shrub. Only the outside layer of the trunks is living. The outer bark protects the tree from the elements, insect invasions, and from losing moisture and constantly renews from within. The inner bark is the food pipeline of the tree and lives for a brief time before turning into cork, part of the protective outer bark. Then there's the growing part of the trunk called the cambion cell layer that produces new bark and new wood each year triggered by the hormones transported through the phloem from the leaves. The phloem, by the way, is the name of the inner bark. I hope this isn't overly complicated. Writing these Cliff Notes is helping me understand how trees work, which is pretty cool. I hope you find it so, too.
Mary Stone 02:41
Water moves from the new wood called Sapwood to the leaves. As the new rings form, the old rings become Heartwood supporting the tree. The Heartwood is not alive. It does not deteriorate or lose strength as long as the outer layers of bark are primarily undamaged. A tree will most likely recover if less than 25% is injured. Remove any detached bark leaving the healthy bark and allowing the tree to heal. No need for tree paint or sealers.
Mary Stone 03:09
Bark works like our skin keeping innards intact and protected. It helps maintain moisture and expands as we grow or exfoliate, making room for new skin. Some trees, like beech trees, shed their skin quickly, while others, like pine, do so slowly, causing the outer layer of their skin and their bark to grow thick and crack. But the inner layer of the bark is smooth fitting with the trunk’s width. But American Beech bark begins to wrinkle starting from the bottom up when it reaches middle age. And the older the beech tree gets, the deeper the cracks. Does that sound familiar? We spoke about beloved Mr. Beech in Episode 45. I invite you to tune in.
Mary Stone 03:54
Each tree species has developed a kind of bark that evolved over 100 million years. There's Persimmon, which has alligator-like bark. It's native to the southeastern United States. And, of course, there's white ash, with its diamond-shaped patterns in the bark. Sadly, emerald ash borer is devastating the Ash Trees. Some trees have bark that photosynthesizes, like Aspen Trees, which we don't have in this neck of the woods, but they are the most widespread tree in North America. River Birch and Paper Birch photosynthesize through the bark of their limbs and trunk, even on warm late winter days, giving them a jumpstart to other deciduous trees, hence why they grow so quickly. Another exfoliating bark is paperbark maple.
Mary Stone 04:40
Another feature of birch trees, by the way, is that they have prominent lenticels, as do cherry trees and tree lilacs. Lenticels work much like tiny windows, allowing trees to breathe. All plants have them, and they are on fruit surfaces as well. They look like dots or narrow etched lines.
Mary Stone 04:59
There's Patchy Bark of Cornus Kousa and American Sycamore, as well as Stewartia. Then there's Plately Bark, such as Shagbark Hickory, which we spoke about in Episode 132, Shagbark Hickories, and Nutty Mast Years. The Kentucky coffee tree also has Plately Bark. And because the leaves are so big when leafless, the wood structure in the bark is so simple. In the winter, there are hardly any twigs on the tree. Bruce said that you would love it without the leaves. And if you don't like the pods, grow a male tree.
Mary Stone 05:34
Our beloved northern white oak also has Plately Bark, and it's a gorgeous native tree that supports many forms of wildlife. Then there are trees with peeling bark and long strips, such as Heptacodium, which is the Seven-son Flower, and also Eastern Red Cedar. Then there's Bald Cypress, also known as Pond Cypress, which is another underused tree that does well in wet and dry conditions and tolerates salt.
Mary Stone 06:01
Some of the smooth bark trees are Acer palmatum, which is the Japanese Maple and American Hornbeam, or the Common Hornbeam found in Europe. One of the trees that I had forgotten about, and I must plant one or two, is Hackberry. It has pebbled bark, which is very cool, and it's an underused native tree.
Mary Stone 06:23
Ginkgo biloba has Ridge and Furrow bark, as does Sourwood, which blooms in July and is native to the eastern and southern United States. Then there's colorful bark, such as Red Maple, its stems or redder in the winter. And then Red Twig Dogwood has greener stems in the summer.
Mary Stone 06:42
It's magnificent how trees have adapted through millions of years. In recent years, we all know the sad demise of the ash trees from the emerald ash borer and Beech leaf disease is spreading. We wonder why these things are happening. Many are Mother Nature's way of checks and balances, but some by the negligence of caring for our Earth.
Mary Stone 07:03
I've spoken about the winter of three nor'easters that caused tremendous damage in our woods. They say a mini tornado passed through knocking down a trail of hemlock. Since then, there's been a resurgence of the population of trees, new one’s surfacing, others growing.
Mary Stone 07:21
When trees die and fall, sprouts of new branches from surrounding trees emerge from the dormant latent buds tucked in their trunks that wake up with the increasing light. Just as when we shed the wounds from our past. By forgiving, we can begin to flourish. Garden Dilemmas. Ask Mary Stone.com.
Mary Stone 07:41
You know I'm thinking about it. Metaphorically we grow thicker skin as we age. We toughen up after life challenges us. Stretch marks can occur during pregnancy and episodes of weight gain and loss or rapid growth, which happened to me at age 16. I grew six inches in less than a year, gratefully stretch marks can fade. The same applies to trees. 'Medullary Rays,' also known as pith rays or tiger stripes, are the white marks sometimes curved, especially prominent on fine oak furniture- adding charm, character, and overall beauty to any oak furniture piece, writes PictureWood.com. Have you noticed what looks like skin folds at the base of branches? Outcomes of growth in the stretch marks can be attractive. It's a matter of how you look at things.
Mary Stone 08:34
I can't help but reflect on my Unexpected Furry Messenger, Miss Ellie Mae - my unintended rescue that stumbled into my life and helped rescue me after letting go of a marriage riddled by the isolation and neglect of addiction to a man I still loved. We both accepted some of our stretch marks as permanent.
Mary Stone 08:53
One way to heal is to think of ourselves as part of the whole. We are all one regardless of the color of our skin, which developed just as the bark of trees based on the climate and environments of the areas of origin 1000s and 1000s of years ago, then we moved around just as plants have.
Mary Stone 09:13
When trees decline, especially those nearer home or other structures. We question whether to intervene and cut trees down or let them follow their natural course. I look in our woods now where those fallen hemlocks lay. The heap of wood is not pretty, but I see the beauty in their purpose to decay and nourish our dear Earth, bringing life to the new.
Mary Stone 09:37
So, thanks for coming by. I always appreciate our time together and I hope you have as well. It really is so beautiful to see how many more are joining us each week, and more of us are learning and growing in the garden of life. Life is about sharing and growing indeed. And while we may grow a thicker skin, it can exfoliate, and new skin takes its place- the skin of hope and growth and love. Thanks so much. See you next time on the screen porch.
Mary Stone 10:08
You can follow Garden Dilemmas on Facebook or online at Garden dilemmas.com and on Instagram at hashtag Mary Elaine Stone. Garden dilemmas, delights and discoveries is produced by Alex Bartling. Thanks for coming by. I look forward to chatting again from my screen porch. And always remember to embrace the unexpected in this garden of life. Have a great day.