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same here. it depends on the alkalinity of the soil as I said, pines don't like alkaline soil. Whether the soil is sandy or not doesn't matter to pines as long as the soil isn't alkaline. Here in nc sandy soil extends pretty far inland more so in the southern part of the state than northern, up here about 20 miles east of Raleigh were I am the soil is a mix, some areas can be very sandy if they are at a lower elevation while a yellowish clay soil at higher elevations. in the southern part of the state about 40 miles south of Raleigh starts a region known as the sandhills which is a large area of sandy inland soil that extends about 1 hr east of charlotte at most inland and down to the coast at Wilmington. this region also extends down into SC and Georgia and is what you were talking about and as you said this area has the hottest temps during the summer. the sandy soil marks where the coast line once extended into a long time ago. Glad you enjoyed your trip maybe you can come down to the outer banks or visit the mountains of north Carolina some time soon. As for what types of trees are taking over, here in nc I know that in the piedmont region like in charlotte, loblolly pines are taking over areas that were once a mixed deciduous pine forest that were cut down. so most likely more evergreens are taking over.
I have to be honest I don't really care for loblolly. I went to the Coastal Savannah Botanic Gardens on Saturday and saw a stand of longleaf pine. They are just so much more beautiful than loblolly. The longleaf was the king forest of the southeast until the last century or so. It was the single largest forest in the southeast. The pine needles are very soft and are 18" in length. The color is a bright light green compared to loblolly. Really is a shame the longleaf forests were destroyed. They are trying ever so slowly to bring it back. And in the areas like Mobile, AL and Fairhope, AL the longleaf was excellent for planting citrus groves under. It still let in enough sunshine, but also provided a canopy at night to keep temperatures up. I have Bill Finch's book "Longleaf As Far As The Eye Can See", and let me just say the photos don't do it justice. Looks so much better in real life than still photos.
Vast forests of longleaf pine once were present along the southeastern Atlantic coast and Gulf Coast of North America, as part of the eastern savannas. These forests were the source of naval stores - resin, turpentine, and timber - needed by merchants and the navy for their ships. They have been cutover since for timber and usually replaced with faster-growing loblolly pine and slash pine, for agriculture, and for urban and suburban development. Due to this deforestation and over-harvesting, only about 3% of the original longleaf pine forest remains, and little new is planted. Longleaf pine is available, however, at many nurseries within its range; the southernmost known point of sale is in Lake Worth, Florida.
I have to be honest I don't really care for loblolly. I went to the Coastal Savannah Botanic Gardens on Saturday and saw a stand of longleaf pine. They are just so much more beautiful than loblolly. The longleaf was the king forest of the southeast until the last century or so. It was the single largest forest in the southeast. The pine needles are very soft and are 18" in length. The color is a bright light green compared to loblolly. Really is a shame the longleaf forests were destroyed. They are trying ever so slowly to bring it back. And in the areas like Mobile, AL and Fairhope, AL the longleaf was excellent for planting citrus groves under. It still let in enough sunshine, but also provided a canopy at night to keep temperatures up. I have Bill Finch's book "Longleaf As Far As The Eye Can See", and let me just say the photos don't do it justice. Looks so much better in real life than still photos.
Vast forests of longleaf pine once were present along the southeastern Atlantic coast and Gulf Coast of North America, as part of the eastern savannas. These forests were the source of naval stores - resin, turpentine, and timber - needed by merchants and the navy for their ships. They have been cutover since for timber and usually replaced with faster-growing loblolly pine and slash pine, for agriculture, and for urban and suburban development. Due to this deforestation and over-harvesting, only about 3% of the original longleaf pine forest remains, and little new is planted. Longleaf pine is available, however, at many nurseries within its range; the southernmost known point of sale is in Lake Worth, Florida.
yeah there are a few stands left. There are lots of efforts to reintroduce them in more places in north Carolina especially in the eastern part of the state. I have noticed though a lot more longleafs being used in landscaping. Problem with longleaf forests though is they require wildfires. Loblollies and longleafs look alike to someone without an observant eye but you are right they are farrrrr more beautiful than loblollies. So beautiful that its our state tree. I hope to see more people and developers choose to plant longleafs. Heck I might as well plant some myself. Recently a large area of about 200 acres in central nc was bought and is now a preserve as it is a very old long leaf pine forest with some 200 years old! Home | America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative this group has some very ambitious goals! they want to increase long leaf pine forest acreage from 3.4 mill to 8 million!
The vegetation looks very familiar. The architeture... not so much. Wish I had more than 1 day to visit that city back when I was there.
I thought the light colors and stucco look more like Mediterranean Europe, but I guess it's still very different in style. Thought the houses against the sea from a San Francisco neighborhood might look French Riveria-like
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Originally Posted by Rozenn
The landscape in these photos looks very different from mine, despite both areas being classified as mediterranean. Your central California coast photos look more familiar, though the chaparral is much less tall than our garrigue. More like the vegetation in southeastern Spain.
Hmm. So the vegetation isn't so familiar? Perhaps urban landscaping and gardens are similar, but the countryside isn't. Is it the grassland that doesn't look similar or the trees? Big Sur looking more like southeastern Spain might make sense, as they're at similar latitudes and maybe similar in dryness — Big Sur has so many microclimates it's hard to compare. Southeastern Spain. doesn't have any redwoods, though. It felt like it was pouring harder in the redwood forest than chaparral, but it could have been that the rain picked up. Thought this photo of yours looked a bit chaparral-like, trees look different:
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Landscape looks much less dry there. Felt strange for it be so dry-looking right next to an ocean.
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Mmh looks like San Francisco gets more wind than Paris.
How could you tell from my photos. Felt like it got when the rain came in — being by the Pacific Ocean seem to create lots of wind when the weather was unsettled. Sky was a very deep blue when it was dry.
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Do you know if zoning prevents the construction of skyscrapers west of downtown?
It was north of downtown, I'm guessing zoning prevents just about any building taller than existing building there. Some nearby blocks had five story buildings. South of downtown is a formerly industrial area, high rises are being built there; zoning probably isn't so strict in non-residential neighborhoods. Census claims the city's population grew by 5.9% in the last four years, no idea where those people could have gone.
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I had the same clouds during my visit there in July, minus the rain. Some things never change.
You visited Big Sur? Or is that somewhere else on the California coast? I'm puzzled why someone's in the water? I remember cloudy weather in San Francisco in July from the same clouds that produced the coastal fog.
Looks like a Cupressus macrocarpa - the Monterey Cypress
Huh? I thought that was a photo of a redwood. Did I mix up a cypress with a redwood tree? Or did you were referring to another photo?
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Cortaderia -Pampas Grass. Native to Argentina and NZ.
Lots of nice photos -like the deer ones
Thanks, didn't expect it was non-native.
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The previous photos you posted, were very similar to much of NZ.
I'm surprised there's so much similarity, I would have thought the long dry season would have led to more vegetation differences; some of the plants are definitely adapted for dry conditions.
Yet another California batch. Lots of photos to show the vegetation for posters to judge on the subtropical-ness.
Wow.. thanks for the uploads. Did the wildlife animal scare you? I'm sure you weren't sure what to do at that point given how we don't get that to happen in the Northeast here.
Surprised at the greenery and surprised there aren't more "winter"(snow and ice) photos in this thread. Kinda getting tired of seeing Spring and Summer stuff.
The sea is 18C/64F right now, too chilly for me but for many tourists (which are mostly from the UK here) probably warmer than the sea is during the summer for them
Wow.. thanks for the uploads. Did the wildlife animal scare you? I'm sure you weren't sure what to do at that point given how we don't get that to happen in the Northeast here.
Surprised at the greenery and surprised there aren't more "winter"(snow and ice) photos in this thread. Kinda getting tired of seeing Spring and Summer stuff.
I'll post snow pics when it happens here. I like pics of snow covered mountains. I wish I could see more pics of the Alps and Rocky Mountains in winter. Not many posters on this forum from those areas I guess.
I'll post snow pics when it happens here. I like pics of snow covered mountains. I wish I could see more pics of the Alps and Rocky Mountains in winter. Not many posters on this forum from those areas I guess.
Well Thanks. I look forward to winter 2016-17 then. LOL! And I agree... what happened to Susanna(I think) from Wyoming...or was it Montana? We need more Western Mountain snow pics or Europe for that matter
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And I agree... what happened to Susanna(I think) from Wyoming...or was it Montana? We need more Western Mountain snow pics or Europe for that matter
