Name That Tree!

COLUMBUS, Ohio — You can call it Ray. Or you can call it Jay. Or even better you can call it ash or oak or redbud.

But to really know what’s best to call it, sign up now for “Name That Tree,” a fun- and fact-filled workshop set for three dates coming in June.

Put on by Ohio State University Extension’s Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, the program offers in-depth training in how to identify trees, including such notable natives as the red oak, the green ash and naturally the Ohio buckeye.

The afternoon of the daylong course is devoted then to a field trip: a chance to practice the skills you learn in the morning half of the program.

Knowing exactly what trees are around you can help you take care of them better, said Kathy Smith, an OSU Extension forestry associate and the coordinator of the stewards program.

Different species have different needs, Smith said, but you need to know the species first before you can do what’s best for it.

The knowledge, too, can take you further, at least if you see it how Emerson did. “The wonder is that we can see these trees,” the philosopher noted, “and not wonder more.”

Expect to encounter the white pine, black walnut, sycamore, sassafras, sugar maple, shagbark hickory, eastern cottonwood and American basswood, among others, Smith said, though the lineup will vary with the workshop location.

The dates, times and places slated:

• June 6, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Friendly Hills Grange Camp, 5880 Friendly Hills Rd., Zanesville. Registration deadline: May 30.

• June 11, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., at The West Woods, Geauga Park District, 9465 Kinsman Rd. (State Route 87), Russell and Newbury townships, Geauga County. Registration deadline: June 4.

• June 13, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Cox Arboretum and Gardens Metropark, 6733 Springboro Pike, Dayton. Registration deadline: June 6.
Registration costs $35 per person and includes lunch, snacks and a tree identification book.

To find out more and to register, call (614) 688-3421, e-mail ohiowoods@osu.edu, or go to http://woodlandstewards.osu.edu.

Continuing-education documentation is available for an additional $10. Call (614) 688-3421 for details.

OSU Extension sponsors the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program in cooperation with the Ohio Division of Forestry to teach people about trees, forests, and how to know and manage them.

The program’s goals include helping landowners make well-informed forest-management decisions and, in the end, creating better health for Ohio’s forests.

OSU Extension is the outreach arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Writer:
Kurt Knebusch
knebusch.1@osu.edu
330-263-3776

Source:
Kathy Smith, Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, OSUE
smith.81@osu.edu
614-688-3136