Gardening and Such
Social Media
  • Home
  • About Me
    • My Experience Gardening
    • Lessons from Nanny
    • Education
    • Jungle Taming
    • Nanny's Garden Slideshow
  • What We Do
    • Ongoing Care
    • Design
    • Flyer
    • Charges/Costs
    • Scenes from Work
  • Going Green
    • Native Plants
    • Keeping it Clean
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
  • Writings
    • Spring Springing, Pruning, Shearing
    • It's about the People
    • An Autumn Masterpiece
    • The Life Is in the Sap
    • Ten Ways to Die Gardening
    • Fall Gardening I: the Geek Version
    • Confessions of a Certified (and Certifiable) Tree Hugger ​
    • A Day In The Life
    • What's Killing Your Lawn
    • The Sand Hills
    • Sweet Bay
    • Fringe Tree
    • Sweet Gum
    • Sassafras
    • It Will Stop You in Your Tracks
    • A Baker's Dozen Favorite Gardening Books
    • He Planted a Garden
    • Ode to the Humble Cherry Laurel
    • How to Find a Gardener

Sassafras

11/4/2014

4 Comments

 
Picture
Sassafras Leaf on Ivy
I was working early last fall clearing a wonderful rocky hillside on a property on Lakeshore Drive. As always when I do this sort of work I had to make decisions about various saplings and small trees, whether to leave them or take them out  ("What to leave in, what to leave out"  - Bob Segar, Against the Wind).

This particular hillside has many small trees popping up that are clearly invasive non-natives like princess tree, tallow tree, and mimosa. I am not fond of any of them. Natives like cherry laurel and hackberry and sweet gum sprout up everywhere too. 

When I see a young tree it helps to know its habit - is it an under story tree (one that grows underneath the taller trees) or will it want to grow to 60-80 feet, and if so, is there room above for this to happen? I look up and think, "Does this tree have a future in this space?" If it does not seem to then out it comes.

I had come across a little grove of young sassafras trees on this rocky hillside the year before. Now I am clearly a fan of sassafras; I leave them along almost all the time. Sassafras takes me right back to my childhood and I love the shape of the leaves and the smell of the roots. Sassafras has a wonderful brown bark and a twisty gnarly pattern and is an under story tree and it gets lots of love from me. I smile to think how many homeowners overrule me on sassafras. Not everyone is a fan. 

You can read about sassafras here and here. 

So I was making my way along the hill, pulling up ivy and other vines, deciding on this or that shrub or bush, and this wonderful red sassafras leaf set off against the glossy green ivy caught my attention, so I grabbed my iPhone and snapped a few pictures. I think it's mighty pretty.

Not to get overly philosophical here but I have always been moved by these little isolated "moments" of beauty. See, this particular view of this leaf on this ivy on these rocks, well, in the history of the universe this is a unique moment, never to be exactly repeated. And I, normal as I am, still a unique person (as all persons are), also never to be exactly repeated, able to see and rejoice in it. A moment in time, noticed, appreciated. 

And captured here for you. 

Sassafras

4 Comments
custom assignment writing services link
5/30/2019 05:58:04 pm

What I like the most about sassafras trees is the leaf itself. There is so much beauty that we can see that's why it is always worth it to take photos of it. By the way, it's been a while since the last time I saw sassafras tree in person. This article gave me a desire to explore more so that I will get the chance to see once again! I guess, it's about time for me to do it once again! I am sure that it will be fun because aside from the idea of seeing sassafras trees once again, the exploration itself is a good thing!

Reply
Attorneys for Healthcare Professionals link
5/31/2023 12:25:30 am

Business claim financing permits these organizations to use the normal settlement from their case to get the capital they need now. A business claim credit assists the offended party with companying recapturing its independence from the rat race.

Reply
Roofing colors shingles link
5/31/2023 12:42:08 am

The boards are introduced next to each other with an interlocking example and are decay and erosion safe which makes this choice an extremely appealing choice to numerous mortgage holders particularly mortgage holders on a tight spending plan.

Reply
Blackberry removal link
6/2/2023 11:11:12 pm

Drenched grass also adheres to the cutter's underside and as the cutting progresses forward it in the end gets excessively thick and hinders the edges consequently diminishing the development as well as annihilating the yard trimmer's ability to cut.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Joel Gillespie

    South Carolina  native son, father of five daughters, Christian, explorer, writer, Clemson and USC fan, pilgrim through this beautiful and complicated world...

    Recent Posts
    Ten Ways to Die Gardening
     Favorite Gardening Books
    Tea Olive
    The Sand Hills
    What's Killing Your Lawn
    The Life Is in the Sap
    It's About the People

    Contact Me

      Or let me contact you

    Submit
Proudly powered by Weebly
Questions? Let's chat! ×

Connecting

You: ::content::
::agent_name:: ::content::
::content::
::content::