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TOPIC: ENTS Gathering_Biltmore Estate
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/218ea46769e4f7dd?hl=en
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== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sun, Apr 27 2008 7:12 pm
From: James Parton
ENTS,
On Sunday, the final day of the ENTS gathering we got up, ate and
many of our fellow companions who live at considerable distance
started to leave. Five of us went to Biltmore Estate. Will Blozan,
Bill Hascher, Larry Tucei, Robert Van Pelt and Myself. I must give
a BIG thanks to Bill for getting us in. He is an arborist who works
on the estate.
Biltmore is a wonderful place. The Vanderbilts founded the estate
back in 1895 and it has world class gardens. Many exotic and varied
tree specimens have been planted there over the years. It is a wonderful
place for conifers and I think Bob Van Pelt rather enjoyed
himself. The estate being over a century old has given some of the
trees long enough to have reached considerable size. I have been to
Biltmore a number of times but with Bill as a guide we were able to
get off of the beaten path and see trees few see.
Will Blozan and Scarlet Oak
The estate is also in the middle of its " Festival of Flowers
" celebration and it was awash with blooming trees and other
plants everywhere. Bill had to leave us early but we continued our
exploration of the grounds of the estate. Several champion trees are
located here. A Dawn Redwood, A European Larch, A Carolina Hemlock
and a European Copper Beech are but four examples. I have included a
picture of the Dawn Redwood.
Dawn Redwood - Biltmore |
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as well as another one at Calvary
Episcopal Church for comparison. The Biltmore tree is larger but I
don't believe it is by a lot. I intend to height measure that tree
in the near future.
Bob Van Pelt and White Oak
Some trees predate the estate like a big White Oak that ages over
200 years. It is located in a field not far from the Ticket Office. Bill
took us to it for a closer look. Magnificent!
Bill and the Biltmore team is planning on restoring some of the
areas around the estate. We visited some nice Black and Scarlet oaks
off the beaten path. I also found some Norway Spruce that had
apparently came up from seed. I brought that to Will's attention. I
have never seen Norway germinate around here on its own.
At the final part of the outing we visited a nice Baldcypress that
is located just below the Bass Pond dam. It was a nice tall tree of
good form. Larry spotted the base for us so we could get good
measurements. Will got 127.56 feet tall and I got 127.58 feet tall.
Pretty damn close!
On my way home I measured 4 really nice American Sycamores at the
TGI Fridays restaurant in Biltmore Village. The largest of them was
over 16 feet in girth. I came up with 138 feet tall. I called Will
after measuring them and he said that it had been measured to 141
feet. The top was really hard to acertain and he had found a higher
twig. I was surprised to have found such an open grown tree to have
been that tall. Cool!
The " Entmoot " was really cool and I hope to go to others
in the future. Hats off to Will Blozan, Bob Leverett and Bill
Hascher. Thanks to all who made it possible and fun!
http://www.biltmore.com/
Here are some measurements. CBH and Height.
American Beech 11' 7"
European Larch 131.79'
White Oak 14' 11" ( 250 years old )
Hawthorn
Hawthorn 27.93'
Scarlet Oak 12' 1."
Cucumbertree 13' 1 1/2"
White Oak 14' 5"
Dawn Redwood 117 feet. ( We had trouble getting consistent measurements on this one. )
Baldcypress 127.58'
Sycamore 16' 1" 138.88'
Sycamore 15' 2 1/4" 114. 64
Sycamore 13' 1"
Sycamore 11' 6"
James Parton
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