09/15/2009

Tree ID Class Set for NE Ohio; Sign Up by Sept. 28

Writer:

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

Source:

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

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Black cherry bark looks like burnt cornflakes. Or, on the other hand, burnt potato chips.

Ohio State University forestry specialist Kathy Smith remembers learning that in college, and she’ll share that tip and a forest of others in an upcoming workshop on tree identification.

“Name That Tree” goes from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 5, at Quail Hollow State Park in northeast Ohio.

Ohio State University Extension’s Ohio Woodland Stewards Program will sponsor it.

“The class will be fun,” said Smith, who leads that program. “The process of tree identification is a process of elimination, and the final identification oftentimes comes down to a person noting some key characteristic and attaching something to it that means something to them.”

The process, too, can help you help your trees.

“If an insect or disease issue arises, you’ll know where to start looking,” Smith said. “When it comes to managing your trees, they all have different requirements, and knowing what the tree is helps you to decide what it needs to continue to grow well and stay healthy.”

Jim Chatfield, an OSU Extension horticulture specialist and co-author of the Akron Beacon Journal’s “Plant Lovers’ Almanac” column, will help Smith teach the class.

Registration costs $35 and includes lunch and materials. Make sure you sign up by the cutoff date, Sept. 28.

You can register and pay online at http://woodlandstewards.osu.edu.

Or you can register by mail by sending your name, address, telephone number (optional), e-mail address (if you have one) and payment to Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, Ohio State University, School of Environment and Natural Resources, 210 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Rd., Columbus, OH 43210. Make checks payable to The Ohio State University.

Find Quail Hollow State Park at 13480 Congress Lake Ave. in Hartville.

Call (614) 688-3421 or e-mail ohiowoods@osu.edu for more information.

The class will have both indoor and outdoor sessions, so dress for the weather.

Participants can qualify for five hours of continuing education credit under the Ohio Forest Tax Law program.

The schedule:

• 9 a.m.: “Introduction to Tree Identification.”

• 10:30 a.m: “The Process: Learning to Use a Key” plus practice time with samples.

• 11:45 a.m.: lunch.

• 1 p.m.: hands-on identification practice in the field.

• 3 p.m.: wrap-up and adjourn.

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, better health for Ohio’s forests.

OSU Extension (http://extension.osu.edu/)is the outreach arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

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