How to Identify Trees by Their Bark and Foliage

Rachel Broskey from Davey's Knoxville office shares advice on how to ID trees in your landscape, as well as some of her favorite trees from coast to coast and how she got into arboriculture and became a "nurse for trees." 

In this episode we cover:  

• How arborists are trained to ID trees (0:52)
• How foliage plays a role in ID (2:28)
• Dawn redwoods (3:42)
• Evergreens and their needles (6:34)
• Rachel's favorite trees (8:01) (11:49)
• Redbud varieties (8:56)
• West vs east coast trees (10:04) 
• Climate in Knoxville (11:12)
• Black gum (12:04)
• How Rachel became an arborist (12:45)
• Diagnosing trees (14:11)

To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.

To read our Tree Identification blogs to help you ID different species in your landscape, visit Blog.Davey.com by clicking here - Tree Identification Davey blogs. 

Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
Twitter: @DaveyTree
Facebook: @DaveyTree
Instagram: @daveytree
YouTube: The Davey Tree Expert Company
LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company 

Connect with Doug Oster at www.dougoster.com. 

Have topics you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Email us at podcasts@davey.com. We want to hear from you!

Transcript

[music]

Doug Oster: Welcome to the Davey Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees podcast, we know trees are the answer. I'm joined this week by Rachel Brosky. She is a sales arborist for the Davey Tree Expert Company out of Knoxville, Tennessee. We've already been having fun with the computer. I keep losing my internet, and Rachel has to reconnect. Today, we're talking all about IDing trees. Welcome to the show, Rachel. It's great to talk to you.

Rachel Brosky: Thank you, Doug. It's been an interesting morning for both of us, but I'm happy to be here.

Doug: This is the way it goes sometimes with computers. Rachel, when you started this, how did they teach you how to ID the different trees and be able to tell the difference between a white oak and a red oak, something I still don't know how to do, even though I live in an oak forest?

Rachel: It's interesting because I feel like every arborist that I've talked to has a little bit different of opinion or strategies that they use to come up with the same answer, which is, what tree am I looking at? There's a lot of different things as far as patterns on the bark, branch arrangement in the tree, which we go back to the mad arrangement. Maple, ash, dogwood would be the opposite branch arrangement in the tree. Most other trees have this staggered branch arrangement or alternate.

Doug: Do you think it's hard for people to learn this, and does it take a while to get the feel for it?

Rachel: I think a lot of it depends on the area that you've been in as well. I grew up all the way across the country, and I was very good at identifying all the trees that we had out there. Then I moved to the East Coast. It was a little bit difficult for me to catch on because there was just a lot of different trees in this area. I know a lot of other people that have lived here long-term, and they seem to not have as much issue with it, just because they've looked at the trees for a really long time. It's just different, I guess, person by person.

Doug: When you're comfortable with the trees that you've either grown up with or been around for a long time, I'm sure it's a lot easier. Changing regions can't be easy because it's all different. Now that for most of the country, I would think all of the country, the trees have leafed out, is the foliage part of this, too? Looking at the leaf, that gets me to a maple, that gets me to an oak, but then where do I go from there?

Rachel: It's a good idea to be able to identify trees in all seasons. I like to put trees into three different groups, which is the deciduous conifers, which is the large, the dawn redwood, and the large. Then we have our evergreen conifers, which is the pine, spruce, and fir trees. Then our broadleaf deciduous trees, such as our maples and our oaks. Being able to look at the bark and the leaves as well is really important in tree identification for looking at them in all seasons.

Doug: When I first moved to this garden, I didn't know what the tree was. Now I know it as a dawn redwood. Deciduous conifer, I had never seen one before, even though they grow all over. To tell you the truth, Rachel, it's my favorite tree on the property. It's a mature one, and it's 100 foot tall, and that bark. Let's talk a little bit about dawn redwoods. Why do you think it's a tree that I love so much?

[laughter]

Rachel: Dawn redwoods typically are pretty hardy. They're pest-resistant as well. They're just gorgeous trees. They have appeal in all seasons. It can be really tricky to tell the dawn redwood apart from the bald cypress. The best thing to do is look at the needle arrangement on the twig.

Doug: Are they needles or are they leaves?

Rachel: They're needles.

Doug: I'm looking at the needles. If I'm looking at a dawn redwood, what is that needle arrangement called?

Rachel: It's opposite.

Doug: Meaning what?

Rachel: Right across from each other. Whereas the bald cypress is staggered, so there'll be one needle attachment, and then the next one will be a little bit after that, and then back again on that same side.

Doug: When I'm thinking bald cypress, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that the tree that likes to be in the water and have its roots up, or is that a different type of--

Rachel: Yes.

Doug: Okay.

Rachel: They have knees that come up out of the ground, which is just part of its rooting system. They can be troublesome in an urban environment because they do take up a lot of the yard with their knees that like to come up. Dawn redwood is a little bit better option if you're going to have it in the urban environment, in a backyard, or something like that.

Doug: I always tell a story on the podcast about that dawn redwood. When we first moved here, my kid was 12 years old, and that is a good climbing tree. Those branches are like a ladder. I looked up about 80, 90 feet up in the air, and there was my 12-year-old. That was a little scary. [chuckles]

Rachel: That can definitely be scary. I have two kids, and I would be terrified. My daughter is always trying to climb every single tree she sees. She's convinced she wants to be an arborist as well. [chuckles]

Doug: Oh, boy. What do you think about that? It's like being in showbiz, and your kid wants to be in showbiz. Of course, she sees her mom doing this cool job. I'm sure that would be cool for her, right?

Rachel: Yes, definitely. I think it would be a very good career choice for her. She's got very much the same personality type that I do. Obviously, I'll support her no matter what she does, but I hope that she does go along the same path that I did.

Doug: Part of it is being outside?

Rachel: Yes, definitely. We love being outside. We love going on hikes, identifying all the trees that we can, wildlife, nature. It's a lot of fun.

Doug: It's funny. When I do talk to arborists, and if tree ID does come up, and they have kids, their kids always know the trees. [chuckles]

Rachel: Yes, she's definitely learning right along with me. It's a lot of fun. [chuckles]

Doug: We have deciduous conifers, like the dawn redwood, bald cypress. What was the third one?

Rachel: A larch.

Doug: Yes, I'm not as familiar with the larch as I am with the dawn redwood. We've got deciduous conifers, and then we've got the evergreens, right?

Rachel: Yes, evergreen conifers, like the pine, the spruce, and the fir. The pines, when you're identifying them, the best thing is the pines have a fascicle that the needle is attached to the branch on. If you're looking at a pine tree and it's got two needles in that fascicle and it's attached, that should be in the red pine family. If it's got three needles attached to that fascicle, that would be in the yellow pine family, and five needles is in the white pine family. If you think of white, it's got five letters in it, and that's a good way to remember that you're looking at a white pine.

Doug: That sounds like fun to be walking around the woods with you after being taught that information and being quizzed. What kind of pine is this?

Rachel: It is. It's a lot of fun. Oh, and then for our spruce. Our fir, those can be a little bit tricky because the needles are singly attached on them, so they can look similar. If you pull off one of those needles and you roll it between your fingers and it feels flat and it doesn't really roll very easily, you can tell it's a fir.

Doug: After that, I'm guessing just your deciduous trees, like maple, oak, or is there another category in there I'm missing?

Rachel: Yes, our broadleaf deciduous trees, just like you said, our maples, and our oaks, our tulip poplars, black gum, hickory, things of that nature.

Doug: Let's talk about some favorites. Now, we know how to ID them, but we always say, "Right tree, right place." When you're thinking about going out on a property, and you find the right tree for the right place, what are some of your favorites for your clients?

Rachel: For my clients, out here on the East Coast, definitely tulip poplar. It's Tennessee's state tree. It's a really good, hardy tree. It's fast-growing. It's usually just a single stem. They can be codominant, but they seem to be relatively resistant to pests and things of that nature, so they're a good option.

Doug: That's a big tree, right?

Rachel: Yes. If you're looking at a smaller tree, for an understory tree, obviously, the dogwood and redbuds, those are pretty prolific out here. There's a lot of them. They look great. They have multiple seasons appeal as well.

Doug: Are you doing anything crazy with the redbuds, purple leaves, variegated leaves, any of that stuff?

Rachel: Yes. One of my colleagues actually got an alley cat redbud, which is a variegated leaf redbud. It's a really, really awesome-looking tree. Then there's also the flamethrower, which has red, orange, yellow, and green leaves, which depend on how much sunlight they get, which is going to be the color of your foliage, which is cool.

Doug: I've seen the flamethrower in catalogs, but growing it, does it do that? What kind of site do you need for that to do all those crazy colors?

Rachel: I was actually at a property last week, and they had several different flamethrower redbuds. They were in different parts of the yard that got different types of sun exposure. She had four trees, and all four of them had different foliage depending on the type of sun it gets. It seems like the more sun that it gets, you'll see a lot more of the yellows and the reds. If it's a little bit more shaded, you'll have a little bit more of the natural

greens with a little bit of red as well. It's a pretty cool tree.

Doug: I want to go back to when you made the move to the east. Was that a difficult transition? Were you getting stumped, or how did that work?

Rachel: Yes, that was very difficult. I was very, very good at the trees on the West Coast. I could identify any of them with absolutely not a problem. I didn't even think of tree ID as being something difficult, just because I grew up in that environment, and I knew exactly what I was looking at. From 100 feet away, it was not an issue. Then moving out here, there is a lot of different varieties of trees. There's a lot of different species. There's just a lot more that goes into it. We definitely didn't have as many different options on the West Coast as we do here, which is a lot of fun. I feel like my knowledge has really expanded since I moved out here.

Doug: When we think right tree, right place, and like you said, your knowledge has expanded, you do have so many different options east. I talk to a lot of arborists, Colorado, California, and yes, you're definitely limited. When it comes to drought, too. Tell me a little bit about your climate in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Rachel: The climate, as I'm still getting familiar with it, but it's definitely very wet most of the time. The drought that we see on the East Coast is definitely not anything like the drought that we would experience on the West Coast. That's a whole different animal. I'm still trying to learn the things that they think is a drought out here. It's definitely just a lot different.

Doug: Anytime you talk to anybody on the West Coast, they know drought.

Rachel: Yes. Months and months and months of very dry, hot weather. It's really different than out here.

Doug: Let's talk about a couple of other favorites that you've discovered moving east.

Rachel: Like I said, I like the tulip poplar. I like the black gum because the fir colors can be really pretty, the black gum, the sweet gum.

Doug: You know what about that black gum, Rachel? I can't tell you how many people have told me in this podcast how much they love a black gum. It's an underused tree in the landscape. It does get pretty big. Boy, oh, boy, like you said, that fir color, that's fire engine red, right?

Rachel: Yes, it's beautiful, definitely. Sweet gum is not quite as good of an option because obviously, you have the fruits that fall out of the tree, which are really troublesome, especially if kids or anything walking around outside barefoot, those can be a big problem, but the black gum.

Doug: That's like walking on a Lego.

Rachel: Yes, that's exactly what it is. Yes. For people that have kids, they know exactly how that feels.

[laughter]

Doug: Tell me a little bit about how you got into this and why this job is right for you.

Rachel: I actually was a nurse for seven years. Then I fell out of love with it. I really like science, which is the reason that I got into nursing. I owned a landscape company on the West Coast. Then I got more interested in trees and learning about them. I fell in love with the industry. There's so many different people that do this. There's people from all walks of life. Everybody's been very, very welcoming. I can't really imagine doing anything else at this point.

Doug: How was that transition from medical to this type of environment?

Rachel: A good bit of it relates to what we do believe it or not. It's definitely a whole different industry, but it's the same as caring for a person, you're caring for a tree, which a lot of people have a huge amount of value in their trees. I take care of every single tree as if it was one of my patients. I want to see that tree be healthy and do everything that we can for it, just as I would the same as a person. As far as that aspect, it's really helped me out in this industry. I absolutely love the trees. I love dealing with our clients and being able to help them and really save their trees at the end of the day because that's what we're all about.

Doug: That's an interesting analogy.

[laughter]

Doug: Tell me a little bit about that feeling when you can go to a property and diagnose a problem and have the good news. I know some days there's bad news. That's part of this job. Tell me a little bit about giving them the good news.

Rachel: It's interesting, the amount of people that don't know everything that can be done for their trees. They think it's either alive or dead, and that's it, or they'll just call us out and be like, "This tree is looking sick. It needs to be removed." When they find out that we can do direct stem injections or soil injections, fertilizer, all these different things, just as you would prescribe a person medication, we can do the same thing for trees.

It's amazing when we go out there and this tree's lost all of its foliage, and a tabure that it shouldn't, or it's an evergreen and it's starting to look really sick. We're able to put it on a plan to help it recover from those injuries, either from insects or from environmental issues that may be going on. As far as root compaction, we can do root collar excavations and all of these things. The clients just really enjoy the process and knowing that we're doing absolutely everything that we can for their tree.

Doug: Well, Rachel, thank you so much for schooling us on ID. Boy, I can't tell you how much I love that analogy. She's a nurse for the trees.

Rachel: Yes, I am. I love every second of it. [chuckles]

Doug: All right. Thanks again, Rachel.

Rachel: Thank you. I appreciate it.

[music]

Doug: One of the reasons I love hosting this podcast is meeting the fascinating guests like Rachel and hearing about their journey into this industry. All right, tree lovers. Tune in every Thursday to this Talking Trees podcast from the Davey Tree Expert Company. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Do me a big favor. Subscribe to the podcast, so you'll never miss a show.

What do you think of this podcast, and what should we be covering here? There's a couple different ways to tell us. You can send us an email to podcasts@davie.com. That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-S@D-A-V-E-Y.com, or you can click the link at the end of our show notes to text us a fan mail message. Your ideas certainly could be on a future podcast. As always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast, trees are the answer.

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