Monsters In the Valley

The layout of Kleckner Oasis is a bunch of hills with a lot of valleys in between them.  The valleys are host to some big cottonwoods(Populus deltoides). This Eastern Cottonwood tree is over 16 feet in circumference, and as with most of these giants, has been hit by lightning in years past.  Definitely stay away […]

Red Elm, Slippery Elm, Ulmus rubra…whatever name you want to call it, it is going to die!

During my childhood, I would come across many large trunks of trees that were long dead. I always thought they were cottonwood trees because that is the common big tree on our place nowadays. I was wrong.  Dutch Elm Disease swept through this area in the 1970’s, and with it, most of the large American […]

Douglas Fir Windbreak

Planting windbreaks can be a guessing game.  What species, how far apart, and planning for what disease or insect problems comes its way in the future can make it like a strategy game.   A few of the trees that were used in our windbreak go by the name of Rocky Mountain Douglas Fir(Pseudotsuga menziesii var. […]