| Alan |
| | July 08, 2010 | Reply with quote | #1 |
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I've been noticing many of these trees in Winnipeg lately, and wonder why they aren't planted more frequently. They seem to do very well here.
On the grounds of the Legisative Building and Government House, there are at least 8 mature nut trees, all of which appear to produce a good crop of nuts each year. The two biggest appear to be a couple of old 40-50 foot Walnuts inside the circular driveway of Government House. There is also a beautiful Walnut tree on the west lawn of the Leg Bldg, near the new Nellie McClung statue. Three mature Butternuts are planted along the foundation of the Leg Bldg, on the north and south sides. A good spot for seed sourcing for anybody who's interested.
While you're in the area check out the 4 Catalpas, each about 20-25 feet tall, on the riverbank near the Louis Riel statue.
I have a Black Walnut in my backyard that is about 6 years old and absolutely thriving. About 10 feet tall, extremely thick with foliage, and never any winterkill whatsoever. I also have a Butternut that's doing OK, except I mistakenly planted it an a poorly drained location.
These are beautiful trees that in my opinion should be more frequently planted here in the not too too far north.
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| Wpg Treeman |
| | July 12, 2010 | Reply with quote | #2 |
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Alan: I've noticed these trees by the MB Leg. for many years and wondered the same thing. Why don't we plant more of these?? Also planted along the west side near the stairs are some Ohio Buckeye (hidden among the Manitoba maple).
The black walnuts on the West lawn of the Leg (I believe there are two?) look like medium sized elms from a distance, they have beautiful broad arching crowns and look very healthy! Years ago, I rented a place in Wolseley and there were 2 large and very healthy Butternut planted in the back yard and a neighboring house had a large and healthy Butternut on the front lawn. The trees are still there, and are taller than the houses in the area (2 and a half stories). There are also mature butternut planted in a yard (front and back) on Assiniboine Ave in St. James. These trees seem to do well everywhere I've seen them in the city.
I wish these trees were planted more widely around Winnipeg. I guess the drawback is that they are very slow growing. I wonder how well they do well in more exposed locations?
I'm noticing a lot more Hackberry planted in parks and along boulevards this year. I can finds lots of small trees around the city, but do you know of any good examples of large Hackberry? All the books say Hackberry is a good replacement for Elm (and is a related species), but the small trees I can see look more like ash. Do they look more like an elm as they get larger?
Just spotted 2 newly planted Autumn Spire Red Maple in Assiniboine Park (on the edge of field facing the Lyric Stage). I wonder how these will do?
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| Wpg Treeman |
| | July 16, 2010 | Reply with quote | #3 |
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I was doing some research on butternuts and came across an interesting bit of information about butternuts in Manitoba from a very old book first published in 1929 (reprinted in 1950 and 1987). The book is called "Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture" by Joseph Russell Smith. In his discussion of butternut he cites a 1922 article by J.A. Neilson, Professor of Horticulture from Port Hope Ontario:
"The butternut is much hardier than the black walnut and has a much wider distribution in Canada. It occurs throughout New Brunswick, in Quebec, along the St. Lawrence basin, and in Ontario from the shore of Lakes Erie and Ontario to the Georgian Bay and Ottawa River. It has been planted in Manitoba and does fairly well there when protected from cold winds. West of Portage la Prairie the writer observed a grove of seventy-seven trees. Some of these are about thirty-five feet tall, with a trunk diameter of ten inches, and had borne several crops of good nuts" (p. 237).
This was written in 1922! I wonder if this grove of butternuts still exists? If so, it would be an excellent source of seed. Any surviving trees would be over a 100 years old and great specimens to propagate.
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| Alan |
| | Aug 07, 2010 | Reply with quote | #4 |
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Re: Hackberry Trees
No, I don't know of any examples of mature Hackberrys in the Winnipeg area. If anybody else knows, please post a reply.
They must grow well here because there's apparently an historic outlier native population of them at Delta Beach at the south end of Lake Manitoba. (But I've never gone out there to see them.)
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