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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Tree-hugger

Scott Wade winces when he hears the term "tree-hugger," but the guy loves trees more than anyone I know. He travels all over the state, mostly in the Southeastern part, measuring big trees for the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. Yesterday I met up with him at Springton Manor Farm up in Glenmoore, Chester County, yet another of those little-known treasures we're blessed with in the Philadelphia area. This 300-acre property, now a demonstration farm and county park, was an original land grant from William Penn and has been in some form of agricultural use since the early 1700's. Check out the view that greeted me as I drove in to meet Scott! How sylvan is that? He wanted to measure the "king and queen trees" - two massive white oaks - down by the barn that have been described in older tree literature as "two original forest monarchs." And regal they certainly were. Scott took one look at the pair and exclaimed, "Wow! This is so cool." They're what's known as open-grown trees - out in a field, not in a forest competing with other trees. And they usually don't grow more than 100 feet tall because, as Scott says, "They're too busy growing out" - 'cause they can. The "queen" had huge lower limbs stretching out horizontally, touching the ground, very tempting to sit on. A sign warns against doing that, so Scott ran his hands along the branch, which was hilly and lumpy, suitably "wrinkled" for a tree that's more than 200 years old. I'll be writing about Scott and his big trees next week. First, though, I have to find the right words to describe them - not just the trees. Scott, too. He's his own kind of "original."

 
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About Virginia A. Smith
Ginny Smith, a Philadelphia native, worked as a reporter at newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Ohio – with six short months at the end of the Bulletin tossed in – before returning to Philadelphia in 1985 to join the Inquirer. Her favorite beats here have included Center City, roving around Pennsylvania (and getting paid for it!) and alternative medicine. She’s also been City Editor and Pennsylvania Editor. Ginny has been happily writing – and learning - about gardening fulltime since 2006. She’s won two silver medals of achievement from the national Garden Writers Association and in 2011, Bartram’s Garden honored her with its Green Exemplar award for her stories about “the region’s deeply rooted horticultural history, cultural attractions and bountiful gardens.”
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