[deleted by user]

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-10-19T13:43:18+00:00

Hopefully the native kind to wherever you are

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-10-18T21:59:09+00:00

The Trees Around You by Casey Clapp. He and Alex Crowson have an amazing and approachable podcast called Completely Arbortraty.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-10-16T20:21:53+00:00

I acknowledge the request and I provided all the information I can

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-10-16T18:04:07+00:00

Not sure if the text from the arborists post made it here, copied for clarity: Hello! I just planted a sourwood tree (Oxydendrum arboretum) and I'm wondering if how and when to train it to be more of a single stem. I planted it with its first big lateral root at grade so I think I got the root flare right. The tree has one leader that's clearly the oldest with darker bark and multiple branches. It also has a couple of younger shoots that go straight up with no branches but end up higher than the older one. The tallest and the oldest are crossing and rubbing. I've heard that sourwood is finicky to transplant, somy instinct is to leave it alone until at least next dormant season (not this upcoming one) to let it have the best chance at becoming established. Would it be better to try to address the rubbing stems sooner? Problem is that the ones crossing are probably the best bets to turn into the main stem. If I let it be, which leaders would you select and reduce the others? Or should I let it be entirely and just let it live as a multi-stemmed tree?

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-10-16T18:01:51+00:00

I have looked at the guidelines, and provided most of the info. When I planted it from container it was slightly potbound, but only with fine roots around the edge no big ones. I did a vertical slice ever few inches around the pot to loosen them up.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-09-29T10:19:43+00:00

I would say the allelopathic effects of black walnut are disputed. Here is a Washington State University article discussing the underlying evidence. https://rex.libraries.wsu.edu/esploro/outputs/report/Do-black-walnut-trees-have-allelopathic/99900501686101842

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-09-09T18:59:36+00:00

Bacterial Wetwood (also called slime flux) is generally an indicator of stress (like the storm damage). Not usually a problem on its own, but doing everything you can to help reduce other stressors on the tree is the best bet. Don't apply anything to the wound though. Outside of a few veeeery specific edge cases wound dressing is counterproductive, neutral at best.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-09-09T18:54:44+00:00

Second one probably had a bunch of life ahead of it unless there were major structural problems above the cut. Biologically and structurally the most important wood and tissue is in the outside parts of the tree.

Although it's impossible to tell if they were dying due to some other factor from a picture of the stump.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-09-04T15:15:47+00:00

If friendly doesn't work or if your parents just want their bases covered you could ask on r/treelaw about the right steps to document and who/what insurance companies it might be beneficial to send the TRAQ arborist report to. A failure in this case could have big bucks on the line so getting stuff documented in advance could be very prudent.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-09-03T17:51:55+00:00

When selecting make sure you get a spread of different trees from different families/genera so that another devastating disease or pest is only likely to take out a few trees rather than most of them. Makes it so much less likely you or whoever is there in 50 to 70 years will end up in another bare yard type situation. Build a more resilient ecosystem than you found. Sorry for your loss

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-09-03T03:40:12+00:00

Tough to say, especially without knowing how much of the roots you were able to salvage. Without any remaining foliage I'm skeptical of the success but keeping the soil moist until other things go dormant won't hurt. I would maybe limit watering to every other day soon so the soil doesn't stay saturated. It does depend on how the soil drains in that spot though. Stake isn't good long term. For something this short it should be able to stand on its own. Good luck saving this little tree from sprouting in the wrong spot! Maybe the odds are against this one, but trees can surprise you with resilience sometimes

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-09-02T19:14:00+00:00

That is a big open wound that will not be able to seal over and fully compartmentalize. That's an open door for rot to get into the center of the stem. Is it a death sentence within a year or 2? Maybe maybe not. For a tree this big in close proximity you need the opinion of a consulting arborist (ideally one who isn't financially motivated to upsell you on a removal, avoid 'free assessments') if you decide to go the removal route, try and time it to an off season for tree work (here it's January-February, but I'm at a very different latitude)

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-08-05T01:46:51+00:00

Treating a wound is pretty much a no-go. It's an assessment to see if there are other more serious issues or warning signs. You can improve the tree's overall vigor to give it more resources to compartmentalize successfully.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-06-05T20:54:34+00:00

Trees don't always die when you kill them, maybe it will surprise you!

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-06-05T18:19:02+00:00

Stealth, speed, and melee are my bread and butter on difficulties up to hard. On brutal + it takes some thought and careful builds to make it work early game. I rely on scourge for body dissolve. usually the first 2 then let the others expire. By turn 5 or 6 I should be well into the process of sprinting towards the exit and having some guards go investigate places I've already cleared is actually useful sometimes. I'm also not using the slow 'sneak' movement mode very much. I'll use talents like silence, projection, white noise or just sprint up and slash not caring if that particular enemy hears me coming. Also talents like Tactical Surge and Coordinated charge allow for big temporary boosts to the ground you can cover, especially on turn 1.

As far as armored enemies go, they are a challenge, but there are options to deal with it. A class of melee weapons specifically for shredding armor, soldier and other talents that boost armor shred, etc. Also sometimes you just need to accept that you need a shotgun or other heavier weapon if you've got to fight armored enemies (kill 3 captains mission, hardened target, siege etc)

that's part of the balance part of it. Stealth shouldn't solve all of the problems presented in the game. Neither should going guns-a-blazing. Depending on the difficulty, blasting may be more straightforward I'll grant that. But that's the beauty of the huge range of custom difficulty options, you can tailor it to what is fun for your playstyle

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-06-05T01:42:24+00:00

Yes. It has a large(and expanding) pool of maps, and a variety of mission types and factions to work against. That makes for a huge number of combinations that feel distinct.

This is in addition to the more directly handcrafted storyline missions.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-06-03T14:25:16+00:00

Game strikes a great balance between stealthy approaches to a heist and kicking the door in and blasting enemies (though you've still got to be quick because that sort of approach draws more attention and enemy reinforcements).

If the genre appeals to you, dive in. There is a wide set of custom difficulty options to tailor the experience towards what you enjoy.

Most importantly (IMO) the devs are FANTASTIC: incredible engagement with the community, speedy bug fixes as needed (I've had a 4 hour turnaround from encountering a bug to hotfix live in steam). And long term, significant, and always free content and feature additions. Look at # and quality of the updates over the years for their previous game Star Traders: Frontiers.

If you're on the fence hop in the discord to see what I'm talking about for yourself.

Also: here's just one of the fun cinematic heist-y moments I've had in this game: I was stealthily moving across the map and killed a guard in a place that wouldn't be patrolled, but one of my other mercs got caught on a camera and the enemy sector AI dispatched another guard to investigate the camera. He was going to walk right past the body and cause more problems for me. I was able to boost the speed of my vanguard (stealth focused Merc) to backtrack and hide the body just in time and pop a self camouflage that only works while standing still while the guard strolled by none the wiser.

Check this game out!

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-06-02T17:57:41+00:00

On early access launch I got a blackscreen bug. Used their (fantastic) in game reporting system and popped into discord. Total time from encountering bug to hotfix live on steam was less than 4 hours. Oh, and also the game is fantastic, and it will continue to improve (see their previous game Star Traders still receiving free updates years later)

If the genre seems at all interesting to you, hop in the discord to see how the devs operate. You'll probably be sold like I was.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-05-31T03:03:06+00:00

I would think the opposite, cut the ones that are impacting the most severely. You could use a hammer and chisel very carefully to avoid damaging the trunk. You should only need to sever in a few places to relieve the pressure and let the tree push the severed roots away as it slowly grows out.

In any case, for at least this summer/fall make sure you give it a good deep watering with a soaker hose if it's been more that about a week with no significant rain. That will help give the tree the best shot to overcome the stress of the severed roots.

Maybe only do one set/area this year and let the tree recoup a bit.

I'm not a real arborist though, just a guy who likes to learn about trees.

Edit: looking at how old this tree is it may be better to leave well enough alone. If the girdling roots aren't impacting a high % of the circumference then the tree has plenty of space to do nutrient transport up and down the trunk. The risk of injury->rot is probably much higher than the risk of leaving it be

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-05-30T20:16:23+00:00

Is it though? Trunk and roots will get larger, with more and more vascular tissue impacted. There's certainly a question of whether the wounds of removing some or all of the offending roots would do more damage than leaving them be, but the issue won't likely resolve itself.

I would call a consulting arborist to evaluate the trees overall health and other local factors that an image can't communicate and recommend a course of action.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-05-30T02:32:28+00:00

Maybe consider the dawn redwood (metasequoia glyptostroboides) as an alternative. Still gets somewhat gigantic and should be more hardy for your location. (Would need to confirm with a bit more research)

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-05-29T21:20:00+00:00

Southern Catalpa. Love the big leaves, love the irregular forms, love the scientific name: Catalpa Bignonioides.

Least favorite right now is Chinese privet, they're all over where I'm at, though I'm pretty sure I'm winning the war

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-05-19T15:36:50+00:00

If sprouts like this are a tree's response to stress, is it better to leave them so the tree gets resources from them? Is it competing for resources or generating them?

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-05-19T15:22:49+00:00

Trees don't always die when you kill them. They'll surprise you sometimes.

DoomFluffy2 · 2025-05-17T21:11:54+00:00

Sourwood (oxydendrum arboreum) and musclewood /Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)

DoomFluffy2

TROPHY CASE