Category Archives: Longleaf

Burning planted longleaf, 16 December 2011

We planted these longleaf three years ago, in 31 January 2009: 12,000 trees we dibbled in by hand. Not even three years old and some of them are 12 feet tall! Every few years they need burning to reduce the weeds like dog fennel and to encourage the native warm season grasses (NWSG). The NWSG burn well: low to the ground, moving right along. The dog fennel not so much, but they do sometimes flare up and make a good show, like this:


Burning planted longleaf, Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman, 16 December 2011.

The longleaf themselves are the most fire-resistant of trees. Almost all of these longleaf will survive the fire and thrive. The volunteer loblolly and slash, not so much, and any oaks or other trees even less, so fire favors the longleaf. We had perfect burning conditions: 5-8 MPH wind from the northwest, blowing towards the road.

Some of the subdivision neighbors who are not familiar with prescribed burns called the county fire department. They came out, took one look at the firebreak, and filed a report saying all was OK.

Here’s how the fire got started. Some pyromaniac dribbling fire….

Here’s a slideshow and a playlist of some videos. Continue reading →

Pair of Pileateds in a Pine Tree

What are these, climbing turkeys? They’re almost big enough.

Or maybe a pair of Southern Pileated Woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) on a longleaf pine (Pinus Palustris).

I got pretty close; they just laughed. Eventually I walked away to do something else, and they flew into another tree directly over my head, where you see them in this video:


Pileated Woodpeckers, Dryocopus pileatus, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Pictures by John S. Quarterman, 7 November 2011.

-jsq

longleaf and wiregrass

The two plants that most characterize Georgia’s southern longleaf forests: Pinus palustris and Aristida stricta. These two are natives; they and their ancestors have lived on this spot since the last ice age.

About Longleaf (Pinus palustris), wiregrass (Aristida stricta), and gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) by the Longleaf Alliance:

We believe that longleaf in any form is better than a cotton field; that longleaf and native ground cover (like wiregrass) is better than longleaf alone; that longleaf, wiregrass, and gopher tortoises are better than longleaf and wiregrass alone.

Picture of Pinus palustris and Aristida stricta by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 February 2011.

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Wiregrass

The plant that names our region: wiregrass, Aristida stricta:

Quail and gopher tortoises eat it. Many birds, reptiles, and small animals use it for covers. For centuries settlers grazed cattle on it. Burn it in May for it to make seed in October. It thrives in fire forests with longleaf pine.

Map of Wiregrass Georgia:

The region also extends into south Alabama and north Florida. There’s so little native wiregrass left that the only place t hat seems to have a map of the region is the Huxford Genealogical Society in Homerville, right in the center of Wiregrass Georgia.

Wiregrass with small dogs for scale:

This wiregrass is native; it’s been growing here for 15,000 y ears since the last Ice Age.

Pictures by John S. Quarterman, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 Feb 2011.

-jsq