Hello from Beaverton, Oregon

[saeschliman]

Hi all, just wanted to take a moment to say hello and introduce myself to the forum.

By profession I am an application engineer (aka programmer), but as a novice hobby arborist, I love nothing more than taking in the beauty and majestry of trees while out on a walk... not to mention my wife and daughter are sick of me talking about trees all the time, and I confess that it would be nice to have an audience which might actually take a small amount of interest in my musings about trees for a change.  (sniff!)

Having lived all over the country (Albuquerque, Pensacola, Austin, Cincinnati, western Michigan, and now the Portland metro), I've fallen in love with a variety of species over the years, most of which I'm proud and fortunate enough to now have on my property here in Beaverton.  Among these (recognizing that most of these are not native to Oregon - hopefully I won't be black-listed for this faux pas!?):  Northern Red Oaks, Tulip Poplars, Eastern White Pines (which I actually prefer to the Western, which IS native :) ), a variety of cherries (Rainier, Bing, Black, etc..), a Coast Redwood, Dawn Redwoods, Southern Magnolias, a Sauser Mag, a number of Red Maples, and some peach trees (which unfortunately have died / are dying due to blight).  The one species among my favorites which I do not currently have is the Pacific Madrone, which I plan to get this year now that I have a place to put it (see peach trees, above).

One thing that I find interesting (and again, that the rest of my family decidedly does NOT) is that my Northern Red Oaks grow much faster out here in Portland than they ever did in Ohio or Michigan, their native lands...  mine are currently averaging a somewhat astonishing 6 to 8 feet per year.  (The Red Maples do about the same - my Red Sunset is exceeding 7 feet / year)

Looking forward to speaking with you all,
Scott

[mdvaden]

Hello Scott ...

Want to have some fun and go measure those Ponderosa Pine at the city library for practice, just to see how tall they are?

Cheers, from Beaverton, Oregon,

Mario

;-)

[saeschliman]

Hi Mario, I'd love to!   I'm assuming that a) you have the required equipment, and b) we'd not be risking life and limb? :)

[mdvaden]

Hi Mario, I'd love to!   I'm assuming that a) you have the required equipment, and b) we'd not be risking life and limb? :)

Yes, I have a couple of gadgets we can use.

Although those pines are not super tall, it's an attractive grouping of trees, with a long unobstructed view.

[Larry Tucei]

Scott,  Welcome to NTS.  An interesting mix of trees you have on your property.  I'm curious to how your Southern Magnolia is doing. Wow those are some fast growth rates for Red Oak.  You must have some rich soil and a green thumb.  Do you have any White or Live Oak?  Larry

[saeschliman]

Mario, are you available late afternoon (after 5) any day next week except Friday?

Thanks Larry... my Southern Mag is doing great (about 3 feet annual growth), save some wind damage which took off the top half last year.  And yes, I guess technically I do have one White Oak, although it was probably planted by a squirrel last yeat and is about 3 feet tall.... I will probably have to take it out at some point unfortunately.

[mdvaden]

Mario, are you available late afternoon (after 5) any day next week except Friday?

(snip) ...

Probably ... most likely.

Feel free to go to my signature link and find the phone number on my contact page. Home / office number.

.............

[PAwildernessadvocate]

One thing that I find interesting (and again, that the rest of my family decidedly does NOT) is that my Northern Red Oaks grow much faster out here in Portland than they ever did in Ohio or Michigan, their native lands...  mine are currently averaging a somewhat astonishing 6 to 8 feet per year.  (The Red Maples do about the same - my Red Sunset is exceeding 7 feet / year)

WOW!