Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: Kalopanax and Juglan ?'s, 1 by Penn_Pete

Penn_Pete wrote:
Here's a pic of the Larix decidua I spoke of earlier. This is from a branch about shoulder high on a tree that was about the dia. of a soda can, dbh. Too bad I didn't listen to the tree and save some seed. Instead, I collected some cones for a wreath last winter and waited for another crop this year. Hah!

My other one is testament to the power of Resin's written word: he killed it with electrons emanating from the computer monitor.
The second tree was planted in the lower field, on a slight hump resulting from the closing furrow of a plow. It was doing fine until he wrote (about 3yrs ago, on another forum, in another universe) that L. decidua was a dry land tree, unlike its American cousin, L. lacinosa. That very year, the wonderful long new growth slowed to a crawl, and this year, the tree died altogether. The fact that the we were in drought conditions for several summers until 3 years ago is purely circumstantial. (That year we returned to normal wet summers.) The fact that the tree had to stand in 8inches/20cm of water for 12 hours this June also doesn't detract from this fact: once the tree knew it wasn't supposed to like the wet clay around its feet, it lost heart and died. This one died without making a single cone, despite being a twin to the one i had planted on dry ground near the walnut.

BTW, I wonder if small doses of juglone could be used to increase cone production. The first conifer I lost near the walnut (Picea pungens) also made some cones before expiring, despite being shorter than I am.