by johnah on November 2, 2020
Cedar Of Lebanon Tree – How To Grow Lebanon Cedar Trees
Lebanon Cedar (Cedrus Libani) is one of the most popular tree species in the world. Its popularity is due to its beauty and ornamental value. However, it is not just beautiful but also useful because it provides shade during hot summer days, and helps prevent soil erosion. There are many types of cedars, which vary greatly in size and shape. Some are very small, while others grow up to 50 feet tall.
The Lebanese Cedar (Cedrus Atriplex) is one of the largest cedars found in North America. It grows to 30 feet high and 10 feet wide. It produces large cones with a distinctive red blush at maturity. They have been used in furniture making since ancient times, and were widely exported throughout Europe until the 19th century when they became less desirable due to their use as firewood. Today, they are still used for decorative purposes.
How To Grow Lebanon Cedar Trees?
There are several methods to growing Lebanon cedar trees. One method is to buy a nursery stock from a commercial source. Another option is to grow your own Lebanon cedar trees yourself using native plants or seeds from local nurseries or other sources. Both of these options will require some effort and time, however they offer benefits over buying commercially grown Lebanon cedar trees.
Before planting your nursery stock, you must first clear the area of any weeds and grass. This can be done by digging up the soil or by removing the topsoil. Although Lebanon cedars can handle full sun, they grow better if they receive some shade during the afternoon hours. The trees also do better in well-drained soil that has a pH between 6.0 and 7.5.
After the area has been suitably prepared, you should plant the trees at least 15 feet apart since they grow to be very large.
Once you have planted your trees, you should keep the area free of weeds and grass for the first two years. This may be hard to maintain if you also want to grow grass or flowers in the area, so it may be easier to just grow the Lebanon cedars by themselves in an open area. After two years you can allow some grass to grow around the trees so they are not in total isolation.
Watering Your Trees
Lebanon cedars require adequate water, especially during their first year. Water the trees at least once a week, and mulch the soil to prevent rapid evaporation. Once they are a year old, they should be able to handle at least a month without any water. Your Lebanon cedars will also need about an inch of water a week, depending on how hot or cold it is. They can tolerate brief periods of drought, but should not be allowed to experience prolonged dryness for extended periods of time.
These trees grow best in full sunlight, but can also tolerate some shade. If you plant them in an area that receives full sun, they should be given some protection from the sun during the middle of the day. This can be done by planting them under a tree that will provide some shade, or planting them next to a rock or other object that will block the sun.
Fertilizing Your Trees
Lebanon cedars only need to be fertilized every two to three years. You should apply a slow release fertilizer with a 10-10-10 or 8-8-8 N-P-K ratio to the soil before planting and mixing it in well. Soil tests can be performed every couple of years to ensure the soil is at the right pH for the trees.
Proper Lebanon Cedar Tree Maintenance
Lebanon cedars can grow up to 50 feet in height and spread their crowns over a 30-foot area. The trees are deciduous, so they will lose their leaves each fall. They have yellowish-green leaves that turn a golden yellow when they fall. Each fall you should rake up any fallen leaves to prevent them from maturing and rotting underneath the tree. This can also help prevent fungus and insects, such as ants, from living in the trees’ base.
Insects and Disease
Lebanon cedars are very tolerant to insect and disease attacks. They have a natural defense system that protects them from most pests. However, there are some insects that can infest your trees.
Lebanon cedars are prone to infestation by scale insects. These insects are tiny and appear as white flakes clinging under the leaves of the tree. They also produce a sticky substance called “honeydew,” which attracts ants. The ants will climb up the tree and threaten to swarm all over your Lebanon cedar if you don’t take immediate action against them. Look for the little white flakes and scrape them off your tree.
You can also spray the tree with a strong stream of water to dislodge the insects, then prune out any infected branches.
If the honeydew remains on the tree, it will quickly turn black and begin to mold. If you do not remove it quickly, the mold may grow so thick that it will actually damage and discolor your tree’s bark.
Powdery mildew may also attack your trees. This is a common problem for many plants, including Lebanon cedars. The disease is characterized by a white, dusty coat that appears on the top sides of the leaves. It can quickly spread and turn the entire leaf into a powdery mass. You can prevent this by allowing good air circulation to flow through the undersides of the leaves.
This can be accomplished by not closing off the tree in with other landscaping elements.
Many insects and diseases tend to attack trees that are planted too close together. Give your trees enough space so they can breathe and avoid becoming infested with insects and disease.
Pruning Your Trees
Most homeowners typically don’t prune their trees, but Lebanon cedars should be pruned whenever necessary. When the tree is young, this will involve light annual pruning. The tree should be pruned lightly every year in order to promote a well-shaped crown and an open center. As the tree matures, it will require major trimming every five to ten years. The branches will begin to thicken and intertwine with one another, which requires heavy pruning.
This should be done by a professional so you don’t end up damaging the tree.
Pruning your tree will limit the size of its canopy, which can be important if you wish to grow grass underneath it or need room to set up certain landscaping elements.
Common Problems
Lebanon cedars are typically disease and pest resistant trees, but they are still susceptible to problems. Many of the insects and diseases that affect other trees can also attack your cedars. Use pesticides and fungicides to kill or control these pests.
These trees also require a good deal of water. You’ll need to water them daily during the summer if there is a drought. If you cannot keep up with providing enough water, then your tree will begin to suffer. It will turn brown and dry and eventually die if it does not receive sufficient moisture.
While Lebanon cedars are somewhat drought resistant, they also do not do well in overly moist conditions or standing water. Standing water will cause root rot to form, which can lead to the death of your tree. If you live in an area that has soggy soil, be sure to raise the tree off the ground on a wooden board.
Harvesting Your Cedars
You should give your trees between 15 and 20 years to grow, but once they mature you will be able to start harvesting cedar. You can’t just cut them down whenever you want because they have a rather odd growth pattern. The tree typically grows until it reaches 70 to 90 feet tall, then it won’t grow any taller and the branches will spread out. It will grow smaller branches at the top of the tree, which will produce cones. To get to these cones you have to thus start at the bottom and work your way up.
Begin by climbing your tree (be careful!) and removing the lower branches so that you have free access to the trunk. Then set up a ladder so that you can climb up near the top and begin removing the upper branches so that you can get to the smaller branches near the top of the tree. On these smaller branches are the cones that contain the seeds.
Once you have all the branches and smaller branches removed, you can climb up into the tree and collect the cones. Set these aside to be processed later. Then you can begin carving away at the trunk so that you can get to the core of the tree. This is called heartwood.
You need to leave enough of the trunk and heartwood so that it can support itself. You also need to leave enough so that the top of the tree can support the weight of the branches you’ve removed. Typically, you only want to take off a third to a half of the trunk. This is called stripping the tree.
Finally, cut away at the stripped part of the tree and carve it into logs or bolts (large cylindrical pieces). These are ready to be taken away and sold, but you’ll first need to process the cones.
Processing Your Cedars
There are a few different things that you can do with the cones that you have harvested. The most common is to turn them into pine tar and pine gum. To do this, you need to heat up the cones until the scales on them open up. Then you can scrape the sap off and put it in a container to harden.
Pine tar is useful for all sorts of things from wood to waterproofing. Pine gum is used in all sorts of recipes such as chewing gum, cakes, and drinks. You can also just sell the pinecones to people who want to decorate their houses.
The other option for your cones is to turn them into joists. These are rather difficult to carve by hand and require a special tool called a lopping axe. Joists are rectangular beams that are used in building houses. You can use the joists to build houses, sell them, or turn them into chips for fireplaces.
Once you’ve decided what to do with your pinecones, you need to start working. For pine tar, heat the scales on the cone until they open up and then scrape off the sap. For joists, use a special tool called a lopping axe to carve rectangular beams out of the wood.
After you’ve finished processing your wood, you can sell it or use it to build a cabin. To build the cabin, find a suitable piece of land near a lake and begin building your house.
If you want, you can try to be a lumberjack in another location where trees are more plentiful. As a lumberjack, you have to travel around a lot and work outside, but the work is fairly easy and can be quite profitable. You’ll need to cut down trees, strip them, and then take the wood to market to be sold.
You can also try to become a trapper. In this scenario, rather than cutting down trees, you set up traps in the woods to catch animals. Once you’ve trapped an animal you finish it off and skin it. The animal’s pelt is then worth money that you can either save or spend.
You can also try to strike it rich as a prospector. In this scenario, you’re looking for valuable minerals in the wilderness rather than trees. This is the riskiest of the scenarios and can result in you getting lost or killed by wild animals, but if you find gold or silver, you’ll become very wealthy indeed!
Before you start your adventure, you need to choose what you’re going to live in while you’re in the wilderness. There are several options here. You can build a rustic home, stay in a tent, stay in an abandoned homestead, or live in a cave.
You can also bring supplies with you or buy them along the way. Be sure to set aside enough money for at least a month’s worth of food.
Finally, you can choose a companion to travel with you on your journey. bring along a second person will lessen the burden but both of you need to share the costs of supplies and living arrangements.
Once you’ve settled on all of these details, you’re ready to get started! Just remember that you’re going to be living in the wilderness so things are probably going to be a bit harsher and more dangerous than they are back home.
As always, good luck and good hunting.
You decide to stop hunting and start cutting down trees for a living. It’s a more honest trade, and while the pay is not as good as fur trading it’s steady work. You bid your trapper friends farewell and move west into the mountains to cut timber.
There you fell trees and transport them to the nearest river (provided there is one). From there you float them downriver to a sawmill where they’re cut up and made into whatever the customer orders. Since you’re at the beck and call of the sawmill owner, you don’t get to choose what you build or how you build it. You just do what you’re told and get paid a fair wage for your labor.
This type of work is very dangerous. Trees are heavy and sometimes they’re not as dead as they appear, so they can fall on you and crush you. The blade on a saw can easily take off a limb if you’re not careful, and the logs you have to roll are very heavy. Worst of all is the danger inherent in floating logs down a river. Rapids are often fast and shallow while other times they can be wide and slow-moving.
If a log jams against another or gets caught on a rock underwater, it’s tough to predict where or when it will come loose again. You’ve seen men drown while trying to pull a log free.
You continue in this line of work for many years until one day you’re bitten by a snake while chopping down a tree. The venom quickly paralyzes you, and within hours you’re dead.
Over the course of your life you manage to save some money and purchase a small farm in a rural part of the Ozarks. It’s a quiet life that you lead there with your wife and children, but it’s only a matter of time before you’re called into battle once again.
In one of the bloodiest and most brutal battles of the Civil War, the Battle of Pea Ridge, your son is killed while fighting for the Confederacy. He is just 15 years old.
Your heartbroken and once again grieving, you are left to wonder if your life would have been better if you had stayed back in Pennsylvania all those years ago.
Sources & references used in this article:
Cedar of Lebanon (” Cedrus libani”) in Israel during Antiquity by N Liphshitz, G Biger – Israel Exploration Journal, 1991 – JSTOR
The quest for the Hardy Cedar-of-lebanon by AS Aiello, MS Dosmann – … The magazine of …, 2007 – arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu
Intra-annual stem growth dynamics of Lebanon Cedar along climatic gradients by A Güney, M Küppers, C Rathgeber, M Şahin… – Trees, 2017 – Springer
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