Category: Trees

Healing The Hemlocks – Saving Ancient Trees from Invasive Insect in Nova Scotia’s Asitu’lɨsk Forest

Today’s Halifax Examiner has a good article about the current effort to protect the many ancient Hemlock trees at the Asitu’lɨsk Forest threatened by the invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) insect. Although it’s a very small insect, it’s been having a terrible impact on Hemlock as it has swept across southwest Nova Scotia since its detection in 2017. Once infected with HWA insects, trees begin to die within a year or two. However, there is a treatment that can save them, but it’s expensive and not easy to administer.

This autumn, teams of volunteers will be working at the Asitu’lɨsk Forest (formerly Windhorse Farm), innoculating Hemlock trees in order to make them resistant to HWA. The plan is to innoculate 7,000 trees — a major undertaking. They are looking for volunteers to help with everything from flagging and measuring trees, to treating trees, to carrying supplies, to helping with food preparation for the volunteers.

Here’s a link to the article on the Halifax Examiner website. Unfortunately, it’s behind the paywall so you won’t be able to access it without an account with Halifax Examiner (a very worthy investigative journalism website which deserves our support — just a little plug there for them!!).
HOWEVER!!! IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING TO HELP OUT AT THE ASITU’LɨSK FOREST!!! Here’s a page where you can find out ALL about it! It sounds like a very meaningful experience. Quoting from the page::

With opportunities for various involvement levels, this week presents a chance for everyone to play a critical role in safeguarding the magnificent Hemlock forest. Don’t worry about tools; we’ve got you covered. Your safety and comfort are of utmost importance, and we ensure that you have all necessary equipment and guidance.

? Accommodations and Amenities: If you need a place to stay, we offer cozy lodgings for your convenience. Choose between our comfortable farmhouse and lodge, complete with power, linens, Wi-Fi, and fully-equipped kitchens, or experience rustic charm in our off-grid cabins featuring limited solar power, propane stoves for cooking, and wood stoves for warmth.

? Embrace the Journey: Your participation goes beyond saving trees; it’s about being part of a remarkable team effort, making a difference in the lives of these ancient giants. Join us, and together, we’ll leave a legacy of conservation and harmony with nature.

15 years


Don beside a Redwood along Prairie Creek in California in October 2006.

Today is that day. As of today, it’s been 15 years since Don died and life alone with my dogs began. A couple of weeks from now is our 49th anniversary, so I’ve now spent more than a third of what should have been our time together, living alone. It’s been a pretty strange 15 years of existence. If you haven’t been there, you wouldn’t really get it even if I tried to explain how it feels. Suffice to say that things didn’t turn out anything like what we had hoped and planned for. In spite of the debacle, I’ve tried to make the best of it. I can’t say it’s been easy and, as I get older, I know that life will just become more difficult. However, there’s not much point in dwelling on that reality. I just try to keep on keeping on in the company of my canine tribe.

Anyhow, it’s sort of customary for me to put down a few words on this anniversary, so this is it.

Due to some computer troubles a few weeks ago, I have had to move photo files around on storage drives. Of course, that got me looking at photos from the past 23 or so years since I went all digital. I’ve also been doing some work on my old blogs — cleaning up broken links and doing a bit of editing here and there. And then I started up this new blog. All of this to say that I’ve had occasion to look at a lot of photos from the past and also read many old blog posts from before and after Don’s death in 2008. It’s been both good and sad by times.


Brown Pelicans along the Pacific coast near the Klamath River estuary.

One thing that came out of all of this is that I’m so glad that Don made the trip out west to spend time with me in the final week of my month long autumn photography travels in 2006. I took him to see all of my very favourite places along the Pacific coast, and in the Redwoods. The Brown Pelicans were migrating along the coast at the time, and it felt like we were part of the crowd as we went from beach to beach, meeting up with them again and again, watching them diving, fishing, and flying in strings, so close to the water that, at times, they would disappear behind the waves.


Brown Pelicans skimming over the waves as they head southward along the Pacific coast.

We went up some of my favourite rivers like the Chetco, the Winchuk, Illinois and the Smith. Spent time camped on shoals or in the redwoods where I prepared some of what, I’ve been told, are my legendary fire-cooked dinners made with fresh California produce. And we spent a couple of days of quality time with our good friends, Paul and his father, Bill.


Don beside the Smith River


Don sitting beside the Illinois River in the Siskiyou region of southwest Oregon.

We visited some of my favourite trees in the Redwoods like the Corkscrew tree, and a particular Redwood along Prairie Creek. Such a tree. So fortunate that it was never felled after having a springboard stuck in its side.


Don with the big Redwood along Prairie Creek.

So, yes, I have been looking at those October 2006 photos and thinking a lot about that autumn trip as well as a number of other autumns spent wandering around in Oregon and California. That part of the continent means a lot to me – it is an integral part of my personal mythology. The 2006 trip seems particularly precious — almost like some last marker point at which all was still normal and good. Within a couple of years, Don became ill and died. Then Bill. Then our dog, Sabrina. Then my mom. Then Sage(1) and Shelby. And then my friend, Paul, died this summer. Other friends as well. All gone.


Don on a beach near Crescent City in northern California.

Well, at least we had that very special time out west. When I left home and began travelling out west with my dogs after Don died, I revisited all of those places – and have done so again a couple of times over the years. It wasn’t easy to return, but it was something I needed to do. Sometimes I feel like going back one more time, but I’m sure it would all feel very different as it’s been quite a few years. Things were already starting to change the last time I was there. Oceanview condos starting to crop up all over. Also, the network of friends that always felt like a series of safe port-of-calls across the continent, is pretty much in tatters now that almost all are gone. I expect that wandering around would feel rather empty and weird.

Well, in any case, I’m very glad that we were able to spend some time together on the Pacific coast visiting my favourite places. I’m sorry that Don didn’t get a chance to do more travelling. I tried to do so for both of us. It’s what he would have wanted me to do.


Me beside the drifted Redwood stump at McVay Beach near Brookings, Oregon

meet my “tree kids”


Sharbark Hickory (Carya ovata) planted in 2013 – came from Ferguson Forestry Centre in Kemptville, Ont.

“The best time to plant a tree was thirty years ago. The next best time is now.” ~anon

The couple of acres where I live on the banks of the Round Hill River are fairly well treed. The woods are predominantly Sugar Maple and Black Cherry, with some Red Maple, Paper Birch, Yellow Birch, American Beech, Ash and Alder. There are also some old Black Locust trees around the house (they would have been planted decades ago).

When I came here in 2010, I decided to do a bit of experimenting with trees of the Carolinian forests which are more tyipcally found in the southern part of Ontario. I also wanted to see a few more of the trees native to Nova Scotia, but not found on this property, such as Eastern Hemlock and White Pine. This is my fourteenth summer here and I’m happy to say that the trees I’ve planted over these years are doing quite well. Some were grown from seed (Common Hackberry), and some were purchased locally (Hazelnut). Quite a few came as 1 or 2 year old trees from Nutcracker Nursery in Maskinongé, Québec (Bur Oak, American Chestnut, American Sycamore, Slippery Elm, White Oak, Witchhazel). A few came with me from Ontario, purchased from the G. Howard Ferguson Forestry Centre in Kemptville, when I was visiting family back home (the Shagbark Hickory trees and some Spruce trees). A couple were gifted to me by a friend (the Butternut trees).


One of several American chestnut trees (Castanea dentata) from Nutcracker Nursery in Quebec.

All of the trees are getting large enough that I can easily spot them when I’m walking around the property. Some are waist to shoulder high now. A few are much taller. The Shagbark Hickory that I planted in 2013 are now about 9 and 12 feet tall. One of the Butternut trees, in spite of being run over by a truck that was making a delivery here, is now about 8 feet tall and really branching out.


Butternut tree (Juglans cinerea) – gift from a friend who grew them from nuts – now 8 feet tall.

The American Sycamores that were about a foot tall when they came from Nutcracker Nursery are now taller than me and have huge top leaves. They are really starting to grow now!


American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) – there are 4 and have such huge top leaves.

So are the Bur Oak which I planted as I missed seeing them after leaving Ontario — they are one of my favourite trees.

All of this to say that I am feeling quite thrilled to see all of my “tree kids” doing so well. Many of the trees were started off in pots in the garden where I could give them water and protection from browsing Deer or other creatures that might kill them before them got a good start in life. Now most of them are planted around the property and are getting beyond the size where they have to be protected. I know I won’t live long enough to see most of them get to be very large. I would love to see the Shagbark Hickory develop their shaggy bark, but that’s unlikely to happen before I’m gone. However, it’s still very pleasing to watch the change in these trees from year to year. They really grew a lot in the summer rains this year! Grow, kids, grow!! 🙂


Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) – a favourite species – now about 4 feet tall and getting lots of leaves

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) has been found in Bedford, NS!!!


Photo of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid from the New York State Hemlock Initiative’s facebook page.

Sad news!! Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) has been discovered in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Today, CBC Maritime News speaks with forest ecologist, Donna Crossland, about the implications of the arrival of HWA in the Bedford area. Donna Crossland is the Hemlock Conservation Project Coordinator with the Medway Community Forest Co-op and leads the HWA treatment program in Nova Scotia. In this interview, she explains the serious impact of HWA, how it is spread from place to place, how to watch for it, and what action can be taken if it is found on Hemlock trees on your property or in your area.

Listen to this very informative interview on Maritime News with Bob Murphy.

Donna Crossland speaking about the news that Hemlock Woolly Adelgid has been found in Bedford, NS