Is the AMERICAN BEECH the BEST Shade Tree for the Homestead?? 

Beeches are one of my favorite trees here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge in Central Virginia. 35 years ago I dug up some 2-foot tall beech saplings out of my woods and planted them 20 feet apart along the road going by my house. They are now about 35-40 feet tall and form a beautiful wall between the road and the house. Driving under them is like going through a green tunnel. Very graceful tree and hold up very well to storm damage (ice and snow load).

The biggest commercial use for beech is railroad ties. It absorbs rot treatments well and is as strong as oak.

We have some beautiful beech trees in our woods here near the Delaware Water Gap. They may be about 100 years old. Some have markings done by native Americans pointing to five camp sites across the street. There is an Indian trail marker tree on our next door property which points to these trees and thus to the camp sites. They form a canopy over our driveway. We also have some ridge oak, red and white oak. Love our trees. Wildlife abounds as our dead end road has over 100 acres of preserved woods forming a wildlife corridor from Mt Tammany which forms the NJ side of the DWG. We are just below the Appalachian Trail. Love your video as we learned more about these beautiful trees. Thank you.

First time i saw a beech was when i was a kid (8 or 9, maybe younger) wandering around in the woods behind my house, which wasn't easy if you're familiar with north Fl scrub. I wasn't supposed to be out there,wasn't our land and i was alone, but it was worth it. I will never forget clawing my way through the dense brush and stumbling into a little glad with a solitary tree standing in the middle, positively golden with foliage. I know it's probably just my child memory, this was over 30 years ago, but i will never forget it. This tree was HUGE. Maybe it was just because it was surrounded by smaller scrubby oaks, but it was the biggest tree in the area, standing over the others and the girth was quite impressive. It literally looked like a picture from one of my fairytale books. I showed it to my mom later, who identified it as a beech. Yeah i had to admit I was out of bounds and risked getting in trouble. But i had to know! I was always jealous of whoever owned that land. They had no idea of the treasure they possessed. Fastforward to just a couple years ago, on the northwest side of Florida. It was only two years after hurricane Michael. Still trying to clean up my property around our pond, i stumbled onto a small grove of beech. When i say small, the trees weren't much bigger than healthy blueberry bushes. This was astonishing because I'd lived on this for ten years, i had been all over it, identified every species. But I'd somehow missed these!! But they were so small. I began looking around for a parent tree. Finally found it. The hurricane had blown it over flat on the ground, but still quite alive. It was more like the trees on your land, not nearly as big in girth like the one i saw as a kid. Last month i was at a honey bee festival with my family when i found a vendor selling plants and trees. This guy had a small potted beech that i couldn't leave without. After planting it in my yard i can assure you sheep have no trouble with the taste of the leaves. They nipped all but a handful off.

We grew up with three very old and huge Beech in our back yard. I loved their paper like leaves and light grey bark. Enormous amount of shade. The actually caused some problems as to mold and algae on the house. So they need to be well away from the house as their shade will slow down ground evaporation. They are so shady that they would make house dark inside. The town had a program to thin the canopy out on the very old ones that had very large branches rotting out.

there is a BEECH TREE on my property that two guys cant put their arms around and its still growing!!

Good video! Beech is a predominant species in my woods, I'm constantly thinning it back to give other species a chance. It's a native invasive species actually. Here in Maine, and throughout the Northeast I suspect, most have Beech bark disease which effects some trees more than others. I have a love hate relationship with it too. Whenever I get smacked in the face with a branch guaranteed it's a beech sapling. Beech is my favorite firewood, more than ash, oak and red maple (I very rarely burn my sugar maples). It's actually superior in every way. Splits easy, highest BTU, very little ash, no bark to deal with, seasons fast and is prolific in my woods anyway. Just keep it dry because I find it rots quicker than any other type of wood.

Hey there, thanks for the great info about Beech trees. We have a beech that is a favorite on our small yard. We have several oak trees that hold the leaves well into winter, while the beech has dropped most of its leaves before winter. We’re north the 45th parallel, so maybe that’s why our beech loses leaves earlier. Thanks again for the talk on beech trees.

Great educational video. I am currently learning North American tree types. Thank you!

Great video Troy. Thanks for sharing

I really learn allot about trees in your channel, very helpful

Thorough. Enjoyable. Informative. I really like the tree videos.

Thanks for the info. I sure do learn a lot about forestry from you.

A very graceful presentation

Very, very informative!

Thanks Troy; very helpful info to use on our place here in northern TN. Tim

TROY, great video! Very interesting and you have a wealth of knowledge in things you explain and do on your channel! Thanks!

Love these videos you do on trees. Very informative. I like to walk through the woods and try to identify types of trees. There are still many I don’t know. Some are hard to identify until you observe them in different seasons.

Great information. I just bought land with a lot of beech trees. I read where beech was used to make shiplap. I just plan on milling mine when I build my house.

These (tree profiles) are my favorite videos that you do. My favorite part of farming is finding ways to integrate it with forestry and wildlife goals.

Really looking forward to some beech milling videos... I really need to thin out the beech on my land, they are by far the biggest trees on it!

Excellent talk Troy on Beech was just wondering if your lucky enough to have any persimmon trees on your farm? That would be a good one to talk about with the viewers. It's one of the more unusual fruits that is found throughout the Appalachian's.

Absolutely love our American Beech, we have several - but they grow SO slow! We are only cutting down the ones we have to, and those will go on the mill... But we are trying to avoid cutting them. Thanks for sharing ☺️

Glad I subscribed!

I definitely need to mill some beach as well... seems like there's always something else that is higher on the priority list when it comes to milling though.

Fresh baby beech leaves in the spring taste fine to me. Never tried older leaves, though. “Etymology” sounded like “entomology” at one point, in case someone had trouble hearing.

The first thing that comes to mind when talking about Beech is Beechnut gum, love that stuff! lol

My place was logged 25ish years ago and the beech is comming in pretty strong for the reasons you are pointing out. I used to selective cut and remove a lot of the beech just so the others have a chance. I suspect my mill will see a lot of beech in the future.

Great information. Beech trees have always been a part of my life. I hunted squirrels under them as a kid, carved my girlfriends names into a few, and now I dread cleaning up the late leaf drop in my yard and driveway. The leaves seems to blow into every crack and crevice.

The answer is yes . Beeches cast very deep shade . In a yard setting they develop very nicely and broad . Unfortunately there is a canker now , that may eliminate them .

Very interesting Troy. One of the things that is real attractive to me about eastern forests is the diversity. The other thing is the openness of the forest. Is that something you have worked to create, or is it natural? My 100 acres in SW Washington is Doug Fir and the understory is a dense thicket. Eventually the overstory defeats the brush, but it takes a long time. Wish eastern hardwoods survived here.

Theres an old beech on a farm back home in McDowell county. It has initials carved all over it. One was dated 1931. It's close to 40 inches in diameter.

If you mill a beach log, quarter sawn is the only way to saw it. Like you said it wants to move alot and rift and plain sawn will bow and/or curl when drying. I really enjoy your content, bits of knowledge and some entertainment. To me, you are a (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Simple Man Christian. That's how I try to live my life. Take care and say a prayer.

Water Oaks are my favorite.

I've heard them called money trees..leaves like gold coins in fall. Roane Co. WV

Beech nuts are yummy too!

7:07 "There is just something about their flavor that . . ." **Proceeds to eat leaf**

Could you do a video talking about the uses of White Pine or Eastern Hemlock. These videos about trees are always interesting.

Planted beech in the open they block sunlight. Feels like air-conditioned air under it in hot summer

Beech isnt great for milling lumber because the middle tends to hallow out on them, but they are really good for firewood.

Hey Troy, you have any Locust trees on your land? They make the best fence posts and fire wood, burns very hot!

Long reaching branches and long reaching roots. Symbiotic relationship? Do growth rings coincide with the weather (rainfall/temperatures),tight together growth rings vs rings spaced wide? And finally, remember Beech-Nut chewing gum?

Well Troy, its been a while as I just got so involved in trying to stay alive that well, it kinda got to be a no. one priority. I have Hodgkin's disease and it is kinda like a bad night at the beach and getting chewed on by sand fleas and this leaves huge water blisters.... enough on me. Anyway, didn't they use the beech tree bark for canoes? I can't remember as its kinda in my head too deep.. or was that the birch tree that they used? It has just been so many years ago.. I thought we made mallets out of them to split oak stays for barrels. You used the metal "Fro" made from strong steel that looked like a spring leaf cut into and the round loop at the end you slid a wooden handle through it or we called it the eye of the fro... doesn't help that a fourth grader can outspell me. I think about a thing called beech nut chewing tobacco and then beech nut chewing gum as well. Its a interesting tree and yet I could write in one sentence what I remember or even know about. I see in the first pig we all seem to know well has won the hearts of you all. She will pass into the night and it will take a backhoe to bury the old gal. No piglets from her any more?? Been too long and yet only a year at the longest. Thank you for your fine video and so to you and yours I wish you well

Mill Beech please

Hello Troy, You left out the beech tree also is used for the flooring on gym floors of yesteryear. I'm not sure about the present. I would also like to hear your take on the buckeye and sycamore trees. Whether or not they any good to use in construction of a house or barn or outside storage building.

Have you read Tree Crops by J Russell Smith?

What was that word used when talking about the tree death?

I love you. No doubt my favorite RU-vid person. If I ever happen to meet you, I will buy you a steak and a beer.

What about siding etc for outbuildings fencing coops on a farm or homestead

Beech lumber?

I have a feeling you would be tasting trees even if you were not on RU-vid. LOL

Beech are the trees to carvebyourbinitisls into.

I wonder..... Since Beech moves so much why were so many hand planes made from Beech? If anyone has more information on this please let me know.

Expert: All beech trees in Connecticut will die by: Ashley Baylor Posted: Aug 9, 2023 / 06:26 PM EDT Updated: Aug 10, 2023 / 03:23 AM EDT HAMDEN, Conn. (WTNH) - Connecticut’s state parks are home to groves of beech trees. Typically, they provide a lush, shady canopy but you’ll notice a lot of branches and leaves missing from the trees at Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden. That’s because thousands of beech trees across Connecticut are infected with beech tree disease, endangering them all. Arborists suggest this disease could wipe out not only every beech tree in the state, but every beech tree in the country. “I have not seen a beech tree uninfected,” said licensed arborist Dan Poole. This disease is caused by microscopic worms that settle into the beech leaves, and there are thousands per tree. Poole is an arborist for K&J Tree Service, and the resident expert on beech leaf disease. He says the rapid spread of this disease has stunned both arborists and scientists. “They first suspected that it was carried by birds landing on branches, or chipmunks, or squirrels, but now, they don’t know why or how it is spreading so rapidly,” Poole said. “There is expected to be a 100 percent mortality rate of every beech tree in Connecticut, every beech tree in the northeast and North America.” Yes, 100% is correct - every single beech tree is Connecticut is likely infected and will succumb to the disease. “The bigger a tree gets, the more leaves it needs. So, with no photosynthesis taking place on these leaves, the demise of this species is inevitable,” Poole said. It’s a relatively new disease, so history won’t solve the problem. “We can’t look back 50 years ago, ‘oh this happened, let’s do this,'” Poole said. There is a race against time for a cure, but sadly it’s already too late. “Something has to get sucked into the vascular system of these trees to get into the leaves,” Poole said. “The problem is, by the time scientists come up with a cure and it’s approved by the FDA, all the trees are going to be dead.” Every beech tree is in a different state of decline, so there is a safety concern if you have any beech trees in your yard. “These leaves are going to fall off, the tree is going to be in a state of decline, limbs are going to start falling off,” Poole said. “It’s more important to remove these trees while there is strength in the wood.” Check your yard for beech trees - they’re easily identified by their smooth trunk. Poole suggests having them removed before any strong wind gusts cause them to fall on your property. If you have any questions, a licensed arborist can help.

Pm sent on FB of an interesting beech on our land in Tennessee

Comment

nothing will eat the leaves let me try them lol

QUESTION>... I am looking for a branch like 1/2 inch diameter for a series of experiments in my garden.. I just learned about this tree...so my question is would you be willing to gift me some branches cut into 1 feet long (about 20 cuttings of 1 feet long). I am willing to pay for shipping and maybe can be shipped in a prepaid envelop. Please let me know I will really appreciate if you can help...thanks.

looks like those beeches are infected with the nematode already the leaves, so they were already in West Virginia in 2021, are all your beech trees dead?

😂😂😂yeah there is something about it that doesn’t taste good… he eats it… spits it out. Yeah it doesn’t taste good. 😂😂

and life's a beech.HAHAHAHAHAHA.

beeches are going extinct soon

The British wooden jack plane is made from English beech. I still use one because the steel in the blade is better than anything you can buy today.