| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
kiwiduncan
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Location: New Zealand
|
 Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:10 pm Post subject: It'll be nice to see Korea's trees in a few more decades |
 |
|
| I often think I'd like to come back to Korea 50 years from now just to see how the natural streetscapes and countryside have changed. Believe it or not, Korea actually led the world in reforestation efforts from the 1960s to 1980s and even today they seem to have lots of tree planting projects going on in urban areas. Trees need time to grow however, and a lot of the street trees are still pretty puny. Down here in Yeosu I'd love to see how the streets look in 2057. It looks like most of them here have only been planted in the last ten or twenty years, but if they are well looked after and given space to grow they could really improved Korea's appearance over the next half a century. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
ajgeddes
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| ok |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kat2
Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Location: Busan, South Korea
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| the problem is that they trim the trees along hte streets so far back in winter that they end up killing half of them. They would trim all the medium/small branches away and just leave teh trunk and a max of 4 big branches. It happened when I lived in Cheongju and here in Busan. So, they just have to keep replanting every year. Too bad they haven't figured out that you don't need to trim trees back at all, or just a little to keep them away from power lines and buildings. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
rabbitsaregood
Joined: 03 Oct 2006
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kat2 wrote: |
| the problem is that they trim the trees along hte streets so far back in winter that they end up killing half of them. They would trim all the medium/small branches away and just leave teh trunk and a max of 4 big branches. It happened when I lived in Cheongju and here in Busan. So, they just have to keep replanting every year. Too bad they haven't figured out that you don't need to trim trees back at all, or just a little to keep them away from power lines and buildings. |
Depends on the tree. Those big maple trees are normally cut back at home. They do seem to go through phases of digging them up and replanting them with new (huge, 30-foot-high) trees. I think it might be space -- they're so close to the buildings they don't want too much root growth. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kiwiduncan
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Location: New Zealand
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Yep, the trimming is a bit over the top. I sometimes wonder how much root space they have too. I understand that city governments are encouraging developers to construct new buildings further back from the street though, so hopefully the trees might be given more space in the future. Korean forestry experts have also called for more diversity when planting trees out in the mountains too - most of the reforestation has been with pines, which grow quickly but are very vulnerable to forest fires. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hyeon Een
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
| kat2 wrote: |
| the problem is that they trim the trees along hte streets so far back in winter that they end up killing half of them. They would trim all the medium/small branches away and just leave teh trunk and a max of 4 big branches. It happened when I lived in Cheongju and here in Busan. So, they just have to keep replanting every year. Too bad they haven't figured out that you don't need to trim trees back at all, or just a little to keep them away from power lines and buildings. |
You live in Cheongju? If I remember rightly there is an awesome avenue coming into the city on the bus I used to take. There were pretty mature trees on both sides of the road and down the middle creating a kind of canopy over the road. If KiwiDuncan is right lots of places in Korea will be like that one day. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
| kat2 wrote: |
| the problem is that they trim the trees along hte streets so far back in winter that they end up killing half of them. They would trim all the medium/small branches away and just leave teh trunk and a max of 4 big branches. It happened when I lived in Cheongju and here in Busan. So, they just have to keep replanting every year. Too bad they haven't figured out that you don't need to trim trees back at all, or just a little to keep them away from power lines and buildings. |
Its almost as if they do it on purpose to get more money to buy a whole lot of new trees again. 
What they should do with a lot of trees here is coppicing. It extends the life of the tree by 2/3rds. But they just let the trees grop up fast and straight, then they fall over easy in strong winds or rain.
But I know what you mean. korean trees are only 50 years old. It'd be great to see all these forests when they mature to be 300 yrs old, with great big trees.
Not all korean trees were felled by the japanese. there are two massive ancient trees standing at the gates of suwon fortress, symbolically planted as guardians. Cutting them would have sparked a general uprising. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
viipuri
Joined: 12 Jun 2007
Location: Seoul, Centre of it all
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Not all korean trees were felled by the japanese. |
...the Japanese destoyed the trees now?!
I thought it was more to do with the massive bombardments and massive use of naplam during the Korean War...not everything should be blamed directly on the Japanese directly at least...[/quote] |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kat2
Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Location: Busan, South Korea
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Hyeon Een wrote: |
| kat2 wrote: |
| the problem is that they trim the trees along hte streets so far back in winter that they end up killing half of them. They would trim all the medium/small branches away and just leave teh trunk and a max of 4 big branches. It happened when I lived in Cheongju and here in Busan. So, they just have to keep replanting every year. Too bad they haven't figured out that you don't need to trim trees back at all, or just a little to keep them away from power lines and buildings. |
You live in Cheongju? If I remember rightly there is an awesome avenue coming into the city on the bus I used to take. There were pretty mature trees on both sides of the road and down the middle creating a kind of canopy over the road. If KiwiDuncan is right lots of places in Korea will be like that one day. |
I used to. Yeah, that street is beautiful. I lived about a block off of it and my street had about half the trees die in the winter from too much trimming.
About all the pines that someone mentioned earlier. I really miss deciduous (sp?) trees. Pine trees are so boring in fall. I'm from the Smokies in TN and I really miss teh fall colors.
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kimchi_pizza
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Location: "Get back on the bus! Here it comes!"
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| viipuri wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Not all korean trees were felled by the japanese. |
...the Japanese destoyed the trees now?!
I thought it was more to do with the massive bombardments and massive use of naplam during the Korean War...not everything should be blamed directly on the Japanese directly at least... |
[/quote]
Noe, he's right. I've been to the countryside where there was a single tree over a 100 years old and local told me the area as far as I could see used to be covered with them until the Japanese cut it all down and shipped it home or to fuel their war. Of course the war did it's part as well as the locals for homes and warmth during the winter. Take a look at a number of old Korean war photos and you'll notice how naked much of this land was at that time. That accounts for why there are so many young and puny look'n trees. I think it's amazing at their recovery.
Just as interesting is if you look at North Korea in Google Earth, it almost seems like a desert maybe because of deforestation? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| viipuri wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Not all korean trees were felled by the japanese. |
I thought it was more to do with the massive bombardments and massive use of naplam during the Korean War...not everything should be blamed directly on the Japanese directly at least... |
Pucking USA |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| viipuri wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Not all korean trees were felled by the japanese. |
...the Japanese destoyed the trees now?!
I thought it was more to do with the massive bombardments and massive use of naplam during the Korean War...not everything should be blamed directly on the Japanese directly at least... |
I read that at one point in the war they were dumping something like 900 tons of napalm per week over Korea. It probably took care of most of what was left after having had hundreds of years of logging without reforestation by Koreans and the Japanese. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kiwiduncan
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Location: New Zealand
|
| Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 7:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
A tree.
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
