Page 66 - Green Builder Jan-Feb 2021

FROM THE TAILGATE By Ron Jones

New Offerings for the Sustainable Minded

The Heart of the Matter

T’S NOT AN UNCOMMON EXPERIENCE to
have seen an object many times, but then
suddenly really see it for the first time. It might
be a natural feature, or a building you pass by
I every day, or a sign next to the road that you
never paid attention to before.
It happened to me recently, and it involved a
certain tree. We live alongside a mountain river. A
feature common to this habitat is a kind of woodland
found in the area’s seasonal floodplains and riparian
zones. In our part of the country, it is often referred
to as “the bosque,” derived from the Spanish word
for “forest.” For several years now, I’ve enjoyed
roaming our stretch of the river and the bosque.
The dominant tree species, the narrowleaf
cottonwood, utilizes spring flooding and the area’s
very shallow water table to grow quite tall, and much
faster than the spruce, fir and pine trees that are
scattered there, but which are more at home on the
neighboring mountain slopes.
The cottonwoods are deciduous. Their leaves
emerge in the spring to provide a cool, green
canopy through the warm summer months.
Then, as the hours of daylight shorten, the leaves
gradually reduce their chlorophyll production and
display an almost-magical transformation into
a swaying sea of orange-gold color, lasting for
an all-too-brief number of days before the cold
windstorms of late fall sweep them away. 16 feet above, the tree’s circumference ranges from slightly over six
These trees are not prized for their wood. It is tough, stringy and feet to about four and a half feet. Midway up, the diameter is a good
hard to work with by saw or axe. It doesn’t split well, and even 19 inches, and the curve is at least four feet off a straight line, forming
when completely dry, it tends to smoke and smolder rather than an impressive, if not altogether symmetrical, arc.
burn bright, hot and clean. Even the largest branches, brittle and One day, I actually “saw” the tree for the first time in my mind’s
frequently hollow, can’t be trusted for climbing on or bearing weight. eye. I went down the hill after an overnight snowfall to verify the
Cottonwoods are often considered a nuisance, or even a hazard, image. The cottonwood had been waiting for me to pay attention.
because it’s hard to gauge the health of any single specimen, and a But what was I discovering?
tree may topple unexpectedly. Stone sculptors often describe how the stone itself reveals the
One such cottonwood in our grove has been a concern for several object they carve from the slab. They will tell you that it was there
years. It is a fairly large individual, but rather than growing vertically, all along; all the sculptor did was to allow the object to be freed.
it leans at about 30 degrees, suggesting that it could crash down from Similarly, the curved cottonwood holds a secret that wants to be
its own weight at just about any moment. We are careful to avoid unwrapped. Yes, it may be time to cut it down before it succumbs to
parking or even standing under it when the wind is up. age and gravity, which would almost surely shred and splinter the
From the bottom, where part of the base actually bends and rests prize. Could it hide a sweeping counter? A bench? An architectural
on the ground for a few feet, to the first fork in the trunk about detail? Let’s find out. GB

64 GREEN BUILDER January/February 2021 www.greenbuildermedia.com

2/2/21 6:15 PM
64 GB 0121 Tailgate.indd 64 2/2/21 6:15 PM
64 GB 0121 Tailgate.indd 64