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Looked up how old some of the oaks I climb really are and it blew my mind
Found out from a county forestry map that a red oak I’ve been trimming for 5 years near downtown Cleveland is estimated at 180 years old, which puts it standing there before the Civil War even started. Has anyone else checked the age of trees in their regular rotation?
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victor_adams951mo ago
That red oak's been through so much American history while just standing there doing its thing. Must be a heavy feeling knowing you've been working on something that old.
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paulperry1mo ago
Gently correct you on the year though. That red oak isn't old enough to have seen the Revolutionary War or even the Civil War. White oaks live forever, but red oaks top out around 200-300 years. This one's probably more like 150 years old, planted sometime in the 1870s or 1880s. Still a ton of history though. It would have been just a sapling when Reconstruction was happening. That tree's great great grandchildren will be the ones standing through the big stuff.
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