Glad I did not tap

[andrew martin]

I did not tap this year due to work still being busy, three children under 4 years old, and my wife taking graduate school courses. I miss it already, but I am glad I did not tap due to this ice storm.
Lexington/Wilmore area took a lashing from the storm, and we have trees down all over the place. I have yet to see the sugar bush, but gauging from what we have in town, I am sure the sugar bush will not be a pretty sight. THe trees will need some time to recover, and I will need the spring to clean up the mess. Glad it worked out for the best.

Andrew

[turfman]

Andrew,

I understand you have leased your sugarbush. How did you and the landowner arrive at a price and were they apprehensive about potential damage to their trees, timber value reduction etc. I am in need of talking to other land owners for next year if I expand and wanted to know what to expect.

Second question?? How is the sugar maple distribution in your woodland areas in Central Ky? We seem to really be spotty on good concentrations of maple in most of our woods and have yet to see an entire monoculture of maples as I have heard about up north. Just curious.

Thanks,

Lee Blythe/Turfman

[TapME]

Andrew, good to see you posting. keep in touch and take care of the little ones.

[Russell Lampron]

Andrew sorry to hear about the damage to your trees. Don't be in a hurry to cut them down though. Be careful cleaning up the mess and tap them next year. I was looking forward to reading about your syrup production this season and have been wondering why you hadn't posted anything yet. Keep us posted and ask anything that you need to know about which trees to save etc.

[andrew martin]

I have not been in the woods yet, waiting until it is safe to do so. Hopefully all or most of the ice will be off the trees by Sunday, then all we can do is clean up and wait until next year.
These little ones are awesome. Our seven month old is starting to crawl....and getting into his brothers books and toys among other things.

Andrew

[Homestead Maple]

Hey Russ,
Didn't Tim Perkins from the Proctor Research Lab say that the trees they studied that went through an ice storm had recovered quite well after about 2 years? The crowns of these trees had maybe 50% damage?

[Russell Lampron]

Jim he did say that. Did you grab one of the handouts that he had at the back of the room?

From the studies that they did after the 1998 ice storm they concluded that:

If the percent of branches lost was up to 25% there was no significant impact to the tree and to tap as usual.

From 25% to 50%. Little impact with quick recovery expected and to use conservative tapping guidelines.

From 50% to 75%. Growth and tap hole may be reduced by 25% or more. Usually ok to tap conservatively if trees are otherwise healthy.

From 75% to 100%, The risk of mortality increases. Tap hole closure may be reduced by 50%. Tapping not recommended.

100% branch loss. There is a high risk of mortality but survival is still possible. Go ahead and tap them or use for firewood.

[bobsklarz]

Good luck to you guy! I hear there are people down there who won't have electricity back till mid-February!! You'll be in our thoughts and prayers!

[Homestead Maple]

Hi Russ,
I didn't know that Tim brought any handouts with him that day. Was it announced? They are probably very informative coming from Proctor.

[andrew martin]

Thankfully we have power, and the outages in Wilmore are sporadic. JUst need to be careful of people running generators in their basement or close to a window so they don't get CO poisoning. Otherwise we are good with just a lot of tree clean up to do around town. Took my 4 year old with me and helped clean off the church parking lot and sidewalks, then went and got hot chocolate and a rice krispie treat - life is good.

Andrew