Why I Oughta...

Last week, I posted some photos of the process of late-season Catalpa tree seed sowing in a few seed cells that we had on hand and talked about how I hoped they'd germinate and we would (maybe) get a few seedlings to harden off before the frost hits in the next six to eight weeks.  I started the Catalpa tree seed project back last last year when I harvested a few Catalpa seed pods and tried to get them going two ways:  first by putting them in the fridge for the Winter to get that cold stratification.  And, by also popping open some brown seed pods and direct sowing some of them in a couple of spots.  I covered that Catalpa tree seed sowing here in a post on Christmas Day .    Back late last year, I planted these seeds in two spots:  along the fence.  And in a large wine barrel planter.  Both, frankly...on a total whim.   The ones along the fence have never amounted to anything. Between laying on a thick layer of mulch and seasonal weeding, these things didn't have a chance.

Last Summer, I posted a photo of a sign that we came across at Waterfall Glen that detailed the difference between the various Oak trees based on their foliage.  About a month later, I put that new knowledge into practice and identified one of the two large Oak trees in our yard as a Northern Red Oak.  (Actually...I'm pretty sure that it is a Northern Red Oak.) In that post, I mentioned that the other large Oak tree (with our tree swing) had leaves way too high up in the air to identify the species and that I should wait until some fall.   Well...thanks to the squirrels in our yard, there are little clumps of leaves that have fallen in the past couple of weeks.  Here's a closeup of one of them showing the pointed leaves with deep lobes. Totally a Northern Red Oak , right?

We have two large Oak trees in our backyard.  One has a tree swing on it.  The other is located a little further back in the yard and is along the south property line.  That second one is the tree that I documented last Fall/Winter when it lost a good-sized limb in an ice storm .  I've just been referring to the trees as "Oak Trees", but since our visit to Waterfall Glen where we came across an Oak Tree identification sign , I wanted to see if I could get clarity on the actual varieties. First up is the south-side tree.  That photo at the top is a close-up of one of the leaves.  Note it has pointed lobes at the tips and the recesses that appear between each lobe aren't SUPER deep - like on the Hill's Oak.  And, looking at the sign, I think we can rule out the Shingle Oak for sure.  This *could* be a Black Oak, but I'm leaning toward calling it:  Northern Red Oak.   Next up - is the larger Oak with our tree swing.  Those leaves are quite a bit highe

That's a look *up* from the ground through a young, skinny tree limb as well as a larger, more mature (and confirmed) Black Walnut tree.  The leaves, from a distance look similar.  Back last year, I mentioned that I wanted to try to identify if a couple of young trees were worth keeping or if I should remove them.  And, knowing that I wanted to hold myself accountable, I included it as #15 on my to-do list for the yard this year . After poking around on the web in various places , I think I've settled on this clear cut detail that I found on r/WhatIsThisPlant on Reddit :  Walnut tree leaves have no notches.  Tree of Heaven (an invasive tree), do.  From u/blacksheep998 : Ailanthus has a small notch at the base of it's leaflets. Black walnut leaflets, while slightly toothed, lacked that distinctive nub. So, that's first thing to check:  Does the little tree leaves have those 'thumbs' or notches?   *Looks closer*... Sure, enough.   Thumbs are pre