Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] black locust

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Charles Paradise <machelp@attglobal.net>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] black locust
  • Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 02:02:42 -0500

To put what Rick Valley said In other words, if I may:
The invasiveness of the Black Locust is balanced by the rot-resistantness of its wood, without which we would have to resort to arsenic-laden pressure-treated wood.
The invasiveness of the Autumn Olive is balanced by the nitrogen fixation it adds to our exhausted lands, and by the fruit it produces on soil unproductive to any other fruit.

It's a shame pressure treated lumber wasn't made illegal the year it came out. Then there'd be more urgency for an insistant consumer demand for chestnut and black locust lumber in quantity, for decks, mail box posts, stakes and children's swing sets. [Can you believe how many children's set ups have been made with pressure-treated lumber?]

Charlie Paradise
zone 5 / Massachusetts / land of green decks

On Sunday, March 16, 2003, at 01:22 AM, Rick Valley wrote:

Here in Oregon, Black Locust is not native. Yet although the tree grows well
here, it is not a big problem as far as being invasive. Deer will eagerly
consume what they can reach. As far as I have seen, it does not eliminate
other vegetation.
And, thank the lord, it does not invade wet prairies like Pear does here, or
hybridize with native species, polluting the gene pool, as Apple does here.
(Should cut 'em all down and burn 'em!) Too bad though, that it feeds those
wretched, nectar usurping non-native honeybees, which are nothing but the
invertebrate shock troops of biological imperialism. Them and the
earthworms, which are destroying our ecology from the ground up.
It is the only rot-resistant wood that is feasible to grow here to harvest
size in your lifetime. I have successfully used it in agroforestry systems
for years now. Properly seasoned, the wood is in demand for boat building
and furniture (indoor and out) The wood is not difficult to work green, and
as a beam, it's about the strongest you can get in N. Am. There was a group
in NY state promoting Black Locust forestry, which put out 1 issue of a
"Black Locust Journal" but I don't know what happende to them. I recommend
*Black Locust: Biology Culture and Utilization* (Proceedings of the Intn'l
Conf.) '91, MSU, East Lansing, Mich. There's a New Mexico Locust too, which
has at least one local population of good timber form. As far as fenceposts,
it far outlasts oak.

BUT -- plant them where you can mow around the area. They will sucker
from the roots and are very invasive. And, the posts are hard to drive
staples into; I expect it would be hard to drive nails into black
locust lumber.
You can drill and screw it just fine; I get staples into it OK, and
sometimes I drill and drive nails through and clench them- works great. I
only get suckers after felling a tree, or after cutting a root (which I
sometimes do purposefully to spread a grove)

-Rick in Benton Co. OR








_______________________________________________
nafex mailing list
nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Most questions can be answered here:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
File attachments are accepted by this list; please do not send binary files, plain text ONLY!
Message archives are here:
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
To view your user options go to:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex/XXXX@XXXX (where XXXX@XXXX is
YOUR email address)
NAFEX web site: http://www.nafex.org/





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page