23.2 Guardian Pine
This guild started out as a lone pine, surrounded by grass that had been sheared short; pine needle droppings had been raked up and disposed somewhere so that it was a nice suburban type lawn. Photos from 1999 -2002 show it this way, though I only have a few of them. I started mowing around the outside of the needle fall and let things come up as they wanted underneath.
The lush green shrubs that came up when I stopped mowing under the drip line looked quite nice, certainly had a nice bloom of white flowers in the spring. I now know that these shrubs are bush honeysuckle, which explains why none of the native species that would like to live in the guild were there -- the bush honeysuckle leafs out early and creates dense shade, preventing growth of anything except a few plants that can handle really dense shade all day long.
The intervention to restore biodiversity in this guild is to get rid of the bush honeysuckles and plant some native species that get along better with each other.
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The bush honeysuckle was quite happy under the guardian pine. So happy that I had to keep after the new ones sprouting in the path weekly.
Eastern walk way to front door and then around to kitchen.
The front yard is first viewed from one of these two locations: on the left from after climbing the steps and on the right from leaving the west parking area. From the left, the guardian pine will dominate the view, although when the dogwood blooms in the spring, it will dominate. From the right, although the guardian pine is definitely there, the foreground has the master cedar, the dogwood, a curving path, and witch hazel framing the opening.
Wonderful view, if one cares to pause and look.
I'd like the needle bed to be deep, but have only been trying to preserve it for about 10 years.
foamy stuff coming out of base of pine tree after rain
Only saw it this one time, middle of October, needles have been falling past couple weeks.
In 2002 the pine stood by itself, surrounded by lawn.
Upper pond is frozen and covered in snow
Upper pond is frozen and covered in snow
Some of the cats like to explore the tree, especially if a source of pets is in the tree.
The big pine makes a nice place to read a book and pet a cat. However there are a number of dead branches that need removing.
The Guardian Pine is a white pine.
Can see the forest in the tree.
Can you see the forest in the tree?
Path to the pond
Tonal abstraction of the Pine and it's pals along the path to the pond
It's almost as if the pine is a mirror to the bushes, reflecting the surrounding growth in the bark patterns only visible when the tone curve is altered to bring them out.
The guardian pine is the perfect climbing tree, if you are into that. However, it is shedding some branches.
Very few visitors can resist climbing this guy.
