…a tree that needs an ID.
March 7, 2014…the sun popped out for this morning shot of my tree.
After reading a post by Alder and Ash about tree following I thought it would be interesting to follow a tree through the year. I don’t know what kind of tree this is, but my wife and I walk past it every morning. Several years ago, the former owners burned the leaves. I was shocked they would destroy such a valuable resource and pollute the autumn air. I was determined to save them next time, so when new residents moved in, I got their permission to rake well in advance.
What do we use the leaves for? Some go into the compost pile, some get spread on or in our veggie beds, and some are bagged up to use as insulation around outside water pipes during winter.
Ecosystem Gardening describes the importance of leaves…
- Many butterflies find shelter in the leaf litter, either in egg, pupal, or adult form, to safely wait out the winter and emerge in the spring.
- Leaf litter provides food and shelter to an amazing variety of invertebrates who break down the leaves, which feeds the soil and other wildlife.
- The deeper the leaf litter, the more spiders are supported. Spiders are an essential element in keeping pest insects in balance.
- Leaf litter is also home to ladybugs, salamanders, toads, and other predators of pest insects. It is no wonder that pests like aphids thrive when we continue to destroy the habitat of the predators that would keep them under control.
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3-6-14…Bees in leaves. Do you see them? Probably not.
Today my wife noticed bees walking on the pile of leaves from the very tree I’m following. I’m wondering what they are looking for?
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A bee inspecting the leaves.
After walking over a bunch of leaves, this bee stopped to sample some leaf mold. There is so much we don’t know about other animals. I’m just wondering, is this bee bringing back some valuable mineral to the colony or just sipping moisture?
I’m hoping that when the tree starts to leaf out, someone will tell me what kind it is. The owner didn’t know and when I asked his permission to ‘follow the tree’ this year, he said he would be happy to learn about it.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Thank you for posting this. I especially enjoyed the footage of the bee crawling around on the leaves! Often people think of dead leaves as waste and don’t consider the tiny world that lives inside the piles, it can be beautiful.
Tree following sounds very interesting, I’m considering joining the project myself!
This is my first experience with the idea of tree following. I have to thank Alder and Ash for mentioning it on their site. (http://alderandash.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/tree-following/
She just seemed so enthusiastic. I thought about it for a couple of days, read it again, caught the excitement, and decided to do it.
We have a great tree outside our house. It’s now the oldest in the street since one died off last autumn. I was only thinking that it would make a good subject over time. I might be inspired.
The oldest in the street…a good reason to follow it. It might be not be around forever. You can shoot the younger versions of the tree for comparisons. I’m already curious about what a ‘great’ tree looks like. I’m sure there is still time to join this most interesting project.
Thanks solar. I have joined. It’s a great project!
I must find me a tree; maybe one that I planted last year.
Great post with some nice references. I have left quite a few piles of brush in the woodland in the hope that they will encourage the creepy crawlies, anything to keep the aphids and potato beetles at bay.
Gosias parents still use leaves as insulation on the outside wall of the veg store, and it works 🙂
That’s interesting about using leaves as an insulation. I know the bags that I pick up work very well around the exposed pipes by the well and unprotected water pipes in the garden. When no longer needed I can dump the leaves in the compost. I love the smell of leaf mold when I open the bag in the spring.
Yes, find a tree to follow…catch the excitement!
Looks like a magnificent tree to follow. Hoping you will get an ID for it when the leaves appear.
I’m looking forward to the leaves as well as the blossoms. I’m hoping to catch some bees pollinating them. I checked last year for bees but I didn’t see any. This year I’ll try more often during the day. It would make for a fantastic video to get bees or other pollinators in the blossoms.
Fascinating post. Hope somebody will be able to help with the ID but it’s also interesting to start off with a little mystery! Riveted by the bee investigating the leaves. Also thinking I need a lesson in uploading videos. I filmed my tree and uploaded it to YouTube where the picture is clear – but if I embed it in my blog it goes horribly fuzzy and useless. Yours is beautifully crisp. Maybe your platform supports video better than Blogger does? Any tips would be welcome.
Thanks Lucy, for the continuation of the Tree Following blog. I’m not sure if I can help you with the video upload. My daughter and son-in-law set me up on how to post, upload and embed. I just follow their directions every time. I have to say, when my wife plays my videos on her iPad, it looks very fuzzy in the full screen version. I’m pleased to hear it plays well on your device.
Looking at your video on my lap top…it looks good, not fuzzy at all. I’ve viewed it many times…it’s good!
It will be interesting to see how the tree progresses and perhaps get an ID. I must admit I never considered fallen leaves for much more than for soil improvement, I had never considered all the life that it supports. The bee’s behaviour is fascinating. I think a great deal is known about honey bee behaviour inside the hive but what it gets up to outside is a much greyer area. It would be just a bit too far to think of it gathering fungi (the mould you saw) to use for their antibiotic properties – but maybe not.
I have to agree, there is so much written about the bee in the hive. But I have strong feelings about opening up the hive to inspect all the time. (No one can accuse me of being mainstream ):) So I like to catch bees (photograph them) in the field. It gives new meaning to ‘outstanding in my field.’ Some of my goals are to photograph bees getting propolis, or mud or muddy water. I’m told sometimes they will prefer ‘dirty’ water over clean water. I’d love to get bees down by the ocean, licking salt off the rocks.
I know ants will grow fungi, not sure for what, but they can arrange the air flow in the ground to accomplish it. It’s just sort of fun to imagine the bees augmenting their immune systems by using something unusual.
I took some pictures of bees taking water from a puddle in a wood. I thought they were Mason bees using it for mud for their nests (it was some years ago and it was a blogger that pointed out they were honey bees!). We live near the sea but I have never seen bees on the beach but I will pay more attention this summer.
Yes, we look forward to seeing what other creatures join the bees and to finding out exactly what the tree proves to be. Greetings from the UK and happy tree following.
Yes, I feel confident someone will know when the leaves form. It’s probably a very common tree that everyone except me knows about. 🙂
I agree with Lucy, great to have a bit of mystery, though I am afraid I will be no help at all when it comes to helping identify your tree. Very intriguing to see the bees wandering about in the leaf litter, and an excellent reminder as to why it is such a valuable thing to have piles of leaves left on borders or in corners. Not to mention it being a wonderful soil conditioner.
I need to identify my tree too. I’ll be getting on to this as soon as I can.
That tree is absolutely gorgeous! I’m curious what kind it is. Tried to look at the leaves but couldn’t see the shape. I’m soooo looking forward to spring arriving, planting my bee-happy plants and herbs, and watching all the activity.
I hope you’ll take lots of photos of bees on your flowers. Sunny days like today find me with a camera, tripod and bicycle pedaling through the neighborhood looking for flowers with bees. I always ask permission to take photos before shooting. 🙂
That is probably wise of you 😉
Before I saw your latest post I’ve nominated you for the Versatile blogger award. I’m sorry for your loss. I hope you’ll appreciate the sentiment of the award and not think it’s inappropriate.
I’m flattered to be nominated for a blogger award. I hope you don’t think it’s impolite to not accept it, but the first time I was nominated for one, my very first nominee told me awards were more of a gimmick. http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/how-to-nominate-bloggers-for-awards-etc?replies=3
Somehow it generates more clicks on a “pay-per-click” site. Not sure how that works, but I don’t want to be part of it. Thanks again for thinking about me, though.