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| From In the Garden |
When the tree was finally cut down though I noticed an awful lot of charring in the center of the tree. It would appear the tree did take a lightening hit that traveled down the core of the tree to its very roots. What do you all think?
in the garden....
Dirt Princess at Trials and Tribulations of a Southern Gardener is hosting a seed swap. She is asking us to post on the seeds we have to swap then link the post back to Mr. Linky on her blog. I have the following seeds available to swap: cleome, nicotiana, orange cosmos, purple columbine, tall maroon hollyhocks, pink 4 O'Clocks, annual red salvia, and perhaps a few more I am not sure of right now. Sorry. I really need to label better. So if you all want to participate-all are welcomed not only bloggers-go check out Mr. Linky. My email address is located on this blog if interested in these seeds.
That 70 foot hemlock I mentioned the other day was struck, twice! on the way down. I didn't let it hang out to long. This last storm (the tornado) we had a tree by our ballpark get hit and explode, I mean EXPLODE! Mother nature's fury is something else. That's why they say never fool with it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure. I had a home burn down from a lightning strike. We left the screws in two pine trees from an old hammock. The lightning struck one screw bounced to the other tree, candy striped it, ran under ground to our chain link fence, welded all six gates shut, pierced the propane gas tank line and started an electrical fire throughout our home. Total loss.
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a burn! We lost a beautiful old oak to lighting...we weren't awake when it happened, but I remember seeing the jagged scar on its trunk where the bark blew off. gail
ReplyDeleteLightening is a powerful force of nature! Your picture is a great example of the charred remains of the interior of a tree. Our neighbors (down the street) had a huge (about 5-6 ft. diameter) oak (think it is a Pin Oak) get hit by lightening. The bark is popping off -- like the interior got too big for the bark and it was bursting at its seams. This was 2 years ago. So far it has leafed out fully and has had a complete season....we shall see what happens.
ReplyDeleteThe poor tree, guess you were right on target about the lightening. Thanks for the info about the seed swap. :)
ReplyDeleteThat looks like lightning damage to me Tina. We had a bad strike that bounced around the trees at our other TN house then entered the house and zapped all the electonics, including the icemaker on the fridge that starting spewing out water and ruined the kitchen floor. All were covered by insurance, we were far luckier than Darla, but when the trees were taken down, they showed that same charring inside.
ReplyDeleteFrances
Good morning all!
ReplyDeleteDawn, I hope no one was injured at the park. Another good reason not to stand under trees during lightening storms.
Darla, That is a really bad thing that happened to you. Lightening can be so destructive. I am so sorry for the loss of your home. Fires are awful things in homes.
Gail, I think oaks are the number one tree struck by lightening in America (if I remember my facts correctly). It is probably not because they are so tall but because they are so common? Not sure but mine was an oak too.
Janet, If you are still there when your neighbors either cut their tree or lose it I'd be most interested to know if the interior is charred like this. I'm surprised the leaves are still on it.
Racquel, You are welcomed!
Thanks Frances! I could not find any pictures on the web of the inside of lightening struck trees and was very curious. I sure hope it doesn't happen anymore. I remember when your floor flooded. I did not remember it was because of lightening. Such a destructive force indeed.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting, Tina; it looks like a real "silent killer." You might never have known the tree's cause of death without cutting it down. Darla's story is really frightening!
ReplyDeleteI can remember when we lived in Tucson and had lightening hit one of our huge palm trees. I would love to get some maroon hollyhock and pink four o'clock seeds. Although I must be blind right now as I do not see your email address!! If you could please email me with the info at lingeringshade@gmail.com I'd appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day!
Ulrike
I'm glad your tree decided not to explode! That really could have done some damage around your house.
ReplyDeleteIt does look like charing in the center. Maybe there are different intensities of lightening strikes. I've heard of several people surviving after being struck by lightening.
ReplyDeleteI have a tree out back that was blasted by lightening and split into several pieces. That must be the result of the intense heat causing an explosion.
Marnie
Hi Tina,
ReplyDeleteIt's a mystery to me. I've never seen a tree that has been struck by lightning. The picture definitely looks like the tree has been charred. Glad the lightning strike didn't cause any more damage to your house or surrounding areas.
Hi Tina,
ReplyDeleteThe huge pine tree by my neighbors place was hit by lightning several years ago blasted into man-sized chunks and you could see where the lightning traveled it's core, following the sap. I was glad I wasn't hiking over there when that happened. That would have been a painful way to meet my maker.
Thanks for info on the seed swap.
Half of my Old Growth white pines got an odd disease that looked like they’d been struck my lightening – the needles turned brown from the top. There wasn’t a blackened core, though. It was so weird the state biologists came and took samples. My neighbor and I had to get someone in to cut down the trees and luckily it hasn’t spread. The best guess was a soil microbe. It has hurt other white pines in midcoast Maine. I hope yours was just lightening.
ReplyDeleteRose, Yes Darla's story is most frightening. Lightening is indeed a silent killer.
ReplyDeleteUlrike, I emailed you. Your drive thru GA, TN and NC looks like a lot of fun! P.S. My email is on my profile page. I never thought of putting it on here but might just do that.
Dave, Too far from the house but hubby's garage and cars would've taken a hit for sure. A big concern. Congrats on guest posting. I don't know how you keep up with it all!
Marnie, That is what I am thinking. This tree must not have taken a major hit but just enough to kill it. It was quite a large tree too. I was sad when it died. Your tree must've taken a long and hard hit. Such destruction.
Karrita, Lucky you to have not seen a tree struck by lightening. It happens all too often as it is.
Rosey, That indeed would've been a tough way to go. Lightening is so unpredictable and dangerous.
Sarah, That is weird they could not figure out the problem with your pines. It almost sounds like fire blight but soil microbes can cause havoc too. I'm glad it has not spread.
We had trees hit by lightening in the yard of the farmhouse I grew up in as a child but I don’t remember any charring but I was a kid so did not take notice of such things. The Saint and I have not had to deal with any lightening strikes thus far and I am knocking on wood as I type this for good luck!
ReplyDeleteDarla, what a horrible event to endure! I know it was a great loss but I must add that I am happy your family was safe from the wrath of Mother Nature. Where you in the house when lightening struck? How Blessed you are to be alive today to tell this story. So sorry for your loss….
It sure does look like lightening hit the tree. I have seen a tree hit by lightening and it did not explode but split the tree in half. Glad yours did not explode.
ReplyDeleteYikes. None of my trees have been struck yet (thank god, knock wood!) I'll be keeping eye out for these symptoms - hopefully preventing any "widowmakers".
ReplyDeleteWas it a pine tree? For some reason Pine Trees are NOTORIOUS for getting struck by lightning. You may remember an post I did a few months back on Alabama....but lower Alabama recieves more lightning strikes than any where else in the world. It strikes pine trees 99% of the time in wooded areas. People here don't usually have pine trees in their yards at all for this reason. YOu will VERY rarely see someone in South Alabama with pine trees in their yard.
ReplyDeleteOk so here is what I want ;-)
Cleome, columbine, hollyhocks
I will email you my address :-)
Goodness. It certainly looks like it was burned. Knock on wood, I've been lucky so far and never had this happen to any of my trees. I know many people who love to watch lightening storms but those loud cracks always scare me. I feel like following my dog under the covers!
ReplyDeleteTo me it looks like someone was playing with matches on the tree trunk! I'm glad to see someone else is also hosting a seed swap. Yay!
ReplyDeleteIt's been interesting (and in a couple of cases, sad and awe-striking) to read people's lightning stories.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to add my vote for lightning damage as the culprit. In my area we have ponderosa pines which are so tall they are often lightning victims. A friend of mine showed me one with a scar of charred wood running to the ground; he dug there and pulled up a fused glasslike chunk which he said was where the lightning had melted the earth when it grounded.
I've never seen a tree explode from forest fire or lightning (and I hope I never do), but I know charring is a very common mark of lightning and that trees can live on after the strike.
Looking at the rings that tree was very old. In the bushfire season here many bushfires are started by lightning strikes. Trees respond differently - and apparently eucalypts are very bad for catching fire and exploding. So lots of people are trying non native trees which are not so combustible.
ReplyDeleteHello Tina,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind comments. I love your photo of your Golden Retriever. My special dog's name is 'Missy' and she is a 9-year old Golden.
I would probably have problems transitioning to gardening in a wet climate. It would be a challenge, but you never know what the future holds....
It does look like lightening, but luckily I haven't had any personal experience with it around our house. (I'm now knocking on wood!)
ReplyDeleteYour tree sure looks like it had been hit to me Tina.
ReplyDeleteI've only heard of trees being struck like that...never seen one. Those lines look like an intricate spider web!
ReplyDeleteCrazy! It's pretty interesting to get a look inside that tree. It looks like there was for sure no saving it.
ReplyDeleteWOW, Tina that photo is amazing. Lightning really has awesome/terrifying power.
ReplyDeleteglad to see your blog is still active. am going to try to get mine going again. sorry about the tree's death but what a cool discovery.
ReplyDelete