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rockysox

Live Oaks and other large trees

rockysox
18 years ago

If they weren't uprooted, will they survive in flooded areas? I hate to think of all those beautiful old trees being gone.

Comments (10)

  • merriss
    18 years ago

    OH..yes they will so survive..You absolutely cannot kill some trees..esp the Live Oaks.. You will also..we are all trying to help!!
    GB!!!

  • SprightlyGreen
    18 years ago

    Sorry, but you are wrong. The live oaks are drowning and will die. Their root system is very shallow and cannot take all that water for that long. In the early 90's, it rained every day for six weeks straight in the spring. A live oak in City Park that had a 45 inch diameter died because it was in a low area and the water didn't drain in time. The landscape will be drasically changed. City Park as we know it will be gone. The cypress trees should be okay, unless the water is so toxic that they are poisoned.

    I hate to be a buzz-kill, but I think you should know the truth.

  • live_oak_lady
    18 years ago

    As chairman of the Live Oak Society I say it will be on a case by case basis. I have seen live oaks survive for the past few decades in the Bonnet Carre' Spillway in Montz, Louisiana after sitting in billions of gallons of water for a month and billions of gallons rushing by them. Many of the ancient oaks that were fragile will probably not make it but I can almost bet on the ones that will survive at City Park. The water table is so high that these trees compensate for times like this. The live oak is the most resilient tree I know of.
    For the record, the president of the Live Oak Society, "Seven sisters" in Mandeville two blocks from Lake Pontchartrain survived the hurricane beautifully. It looks a little raggedy with most of its leaves blown off but it will come back. From what I have seen the live oak has fared better than any tree in the area. That is why we have so many in the deep south; they know how to survive hurricanes and how to protect people during hurricanes. I have a foot of water in my house and I think my roots are getting rotten---wish I were a live oak.

  • rockysox
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    live-oak-lady I am so glad you are back with us! While I AM concerned about the trees, I can now admit my real reason for posting this message was to find out if you were still out there. Thanks for replying.

  • greenelbows1
    18 years ago

    There was a wonderful feature, I think on CNN, about the live oaks that survived and the people some of them protected. Showed one house surrounded by live oaks that was in pretty good condition, while the rest of the area was flattened. I was heartsick when a lot of local folks cut down every tree on their property after I think Hurricane Lili. A lot of trees fell on a lot of houses and other buildings, but I think most of them were water oaks and other not so well adapted ones. And those trees sop up a LOT of water. Weren't some of those trees weakened by that awful imported termite that eats live wood? Or was that an 'urban legend'?

  • bruggirl100
    18 years ago

    Live oaks do not have shallow root systems, do they? I thought that was Laurel Oaks. I know that Charley took out a lot of laurel oaks here in Florida last year, in fact, they were listed as one of the top ten worst landscape trees for hurricanes, but most of our live oaks survived.

    My grandmother's house is on an island in SC, and some of those oaks have sat in salt water for days after hurricanes flooded the area, and they are still standing.

  • rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
    18 years ago

    Live Oaks have a very shallow, fibrous root system. VERY shallow. Most of our hardwood trees do. Shallow is not a bad thing, as some people seem to think.

    Live Oaks can live to be very old because of a genetic predisposition to do so. Plants, like all living organisms, have a pre-determined life span. A Quercus laurifolia, for example, is a feeble old lady in a rocking chair at 70 years. A Bradford Pear won't live to see 20, in most instances. The Angel Oak, outside of Charleston, SC is estimated to be somewhere around 1500 years old! (There are some good genes in that tree!)

    If soil systems stay saturated for very long, the trees will begin the process of dying. It may take a few weeks, or even a few years. Large oaks have a lot of stored energy to use. We were removing dying trees for years after Hurrican Hugo hit the coast of SC.

    So,I hope after the floods recede, that professionals can come in and aerate the soils properly, top dress with gypsum if salt water was part of the flooding issue, and do what they need in order that some of these trees be saved.

  • SprightlyGreen
    18 years ago

    The other damage the trees are facing are the idiots that Entergy contracts to "prune" the trees over the power lines. They don't prune, they disfigure. If allowed, they will cut (unprofessionally) ALL BRANCHES over the power lines. This means any branches on one side of a tree will be sheared off. I ran out to stop them from cutting all the branches on one side of my boyfriend's live oak and magnolia tress in River Ridge. They were climbing up WAY over the power lines and were going to take off all the branches. This is so unnecessary.

    So, take care and watch out for this other destruction. I understand removing branches in/right on top power lines, but the whole side of the tree does not have to be removed. The powerlines that came down were from wind and from WHOLE trees falling.

  • live_oak_lady
    18 years ago

    I have been touring the area and still think that about 90 percent of the mature live oaks are in good shape following Katrina and Rita. I am amazed that so many in City Park are already putting on new leaves. City Park is one pitiful mess and I have not even been in any of the buildings such as the Conservatory, the Pavilion of the Two Sisters, the Botanical Garden library etc. If they took in 4 feet of water for three weeks standing, God bless. There was very little life in the Park, except me and another photographer I had with me. Felt like we were the only two people left in the world. I have done a photo gallery on City Park after Katrina if you are interested in looking. It is at www.pbase.com/septembermorn. I have two other Katrina galleries that show the live oaks--Metairie Gardens after Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I am sure you all know if you click on the little picture you will get a full screen picture and I have written a little story under most of the photos. You can see for yourself how the majestic live oak behaved during Katrina's wrath.
    Coleen Perilloux Landry

  • keiththibodeaux
    18 years ago

    I too, hope that many survive and they are one tough magnificent tree, but consider it is not just water that stayed. First it was salt water. Second that water contained gas and oil that floated up from thousands of flooded cars. Every container of everything, from tens of thousands of home, that was not sealed tight flowed into the water. All of the sewerage for the city flowed out into the water, and every nature of dead and rotten things, although from a plants perspective that might have been on of the few good things. I have been in New Orleans working on recovery several times since Katrina. Nothing you see or hear can bring you anywere close to the smell. Still it get better every day. This too will be a memory soon enough. Louisianians are no stranger to hurricanes and floods, or to recovery from them. It is in our spirit to rebuild, and to rebuild better than before. The national press focuses on the negative, we focus on our future.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Gardens and Life of Keith Thibodeaux

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