This Old Tree – Details, episodes & analysis

Legend has it that Col. William H. Jackson of Athens, Georgia loved his old white oak tree very much. So much, that he created a deed for the tree and the land immediately surrounding it, giving ownership unto itself.  Could it be possible? Who owns a tree?

The answers aren't always as simple as they may appear. 

Guests
Mateo Fennell
Community Forestry Coordinator
Athens-Clarke County Unified Government
Athens, GA
https://www.accgov.com/274/Community-Forestry

James Komen
Consulting Arborist and Attorney
Los Angeles, CA
https://www.jameskomen.com/

Pat McAlexander
Author, Retired Professor, and Neighbor of The Tree That Owns Itself
University of Georgia
Athens, GA

Music
"It's Fun Being a Cat," Ziv Grinberg

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

A large old mulberry tree at Truro Vineyards on Cape Cod comes with a legend. A sea captain brought it back from the South Pacific and planted it for his young wife. Or his girlfriend. Or someone named Amelia. Is this story true? Who was the captain, and what became of him?

Come along to open dusty books, unfurl old maps, and decide what you think.

Guests
Kristen Roberts
Owner
Truro Vineyards
Truro, MA

Ken MacPhee
Arborist Representative
Bartlett Tree Experts
Orleans, MA

Janice Pelosi
Manager
Truro Historical Society
Truro, MA

Norman Pope
Volunteer
Truro Historical Society
Truro, MA

Peter Coles
Author of Mulberry
Morus londinium 
London, UK

Consulting Editor
David Still II

Recorder Music
David Bor and Kimberly Wass
"The Wellerman"
"Sleep Soond I da Mornin'"
"Leave Her Johnny"

Other Music
The Hill Top Trio
"Spanish Ladies"

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

The stately "Imperial Pine" is the only bonsai ever to leave the Japanese Emperor's collection, and it resides at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, DC.  Listen to the behind-the-scenes story about how it got there during a key moment in diplomatic history between Japan and the United States.

Guests
Kathleen Emerson-Dell
Curator of Exhibitions
National Bonsai & Penjing Museum
U.S. National Arboretum
www.usna.usda.gov

Michael James
Curator
National Bonsai & Penjing Museum
U.S. National Arboretum
www.usna.usda.gov

Consulting Editor
David Still II

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

Meet the charming old katsura tree in Beatrix Farrand’s famous garden at Dumbarton Oaks. It might be the oldest katsura in North America, or maybe not, but its origins relate to the burgeoning interest in Japanese trees and plants in the second half of the 19th century when Japan opened up to the world. Listen in, as the tree receives some traditional care from Japanese Master Gardener Kurato Fujimoto.

Guests
Ron Henderson
Founding Principal
Lirio Landscape Architecture
Professor of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism
Illinois Institute of Technology

Kurato Fujimoto
Master Gardener
Kenroku-en Garden

Johann (Hans) Friedl
Masters Student of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism
Illinois Institute of Technology
www.linkedin.com/in/johann-friedl

Jonathan Kavalier
Director of Gardens and Grounds
Dumbarton Oaks

Abner Aldarondo
Humanities Fellow
Dumbarton Oaks

Consulting Editor
David Still II

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

This is the second edition of Tree Story Shorts on This Old Tree, where listeners get to contribute and tell their own tree stories! From New York to California to China and Nepal, listen to what people have to say about the trees that inspire them.

Guests
Gil Reavill
Author, screenwriter, journalist
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Reavill

James Voorhies
Retired grounds manager and entomologist
Paul Smith College '72

Georgia Silvera Seamans
Founder, Local Nature Lab
Host, Your Bird Story podcast

Chi Ngai Chan
Staff Scientist, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School
linkedin.com/in/chingaichan/

Fran Hutton Lee
Retired GIS specialist and cartographer
linkedin.com/in/fran-v-hutton-lee-4184a125/

Brandon Namm
Tree Inspector, City of Portland, OR
Principal Consultant, Laurelin Tree Consulting
laurelinconsulting.com

Eva Monheim
Speaker, consultant, garden coach, designer, writer, photographer
Co-host of The Plant a Trillion Trees Podcast
evamonheim.com

Leena Chapagain
Botanist and gardener
Dumbarton Oaks

Steven Koehn
Director of Cooperative Forestry
U.S. Forest Service, Dept. of Agriculture
www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/state-private-forestry/coop-forestry

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

Sherwood Forest in the County of Nottinghamshire lays claim to a world famous tree, The Major Oak. It may well have harbored Robin Hood and his merry men, or perhaps people like them. Admirers from all over the world visit the beloved English oak, drawn by the legend.  

Two guests from the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve help describe why the tree is so special. One is Paul Cook, the Warden tasked with maintaining the woodland and the landscape. The other is the Sheriff of Nottingham, or, that is, Richard Townsley, a tour guide and local authority on Robin Hood. There’s an aura around this tree thanks to the legend, but the allure and lasting popularity of England's arboreal icon has become about so much more. 

Guests
Paul Cook
Warden
Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve, RSPB

Richard Townsley
Tour Guide - Sheriff of Nottingham
Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve, RSPB

Consulting Editor
David Still, II

Reader
Nigel Holmes
nigelholmes.com
(excerpts from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle, edited by Jonathan Kelley, The Townsend Press, Inc.)

Recorder Musicians
David Bor
Kim Wass

Recorder Music
"Light of love," Anonymous
"When that I was and a little tiny boy," anonymous Shakespearean stage tune
"When lo, by break of morning," Thomas Morley, 1595
"It was a lover and his lass," Thomas Morley, 1600
"Tres douce dame que j’aour," Guillaume de Machaut, 14th c.
"We Be Soldiers Three," Thomas Ravenscroft, 1609

Special thanks to:
Rob James, Sherwood Forest

Photo credit
Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve, RSPB

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

There's a huge, spreading, 350 yr old plus white oak in McMinnville, Tennessee with a legend. It was known to the early pioneers, and it's now a state landmark tree. Listen to its story told by Warren County Historian Jimmy Haley, and former state urban forester Tom Simpson. Come along and discover the Birthing Tree through the eyes of a real pioneer family.

Guests
Jimmy Haley
Historian
Warren County, TN

Tom Simpson
former East Tennessee Regional Urban Forester
Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry

Consulting Editor
David Still, II

Special thanks to:
Gene Hyde
Cheryl Watson Mingle
Elizabeth Benton
Dana Phillips Sorrentino
Kasey Krouse
Josh Abrams
Michelle Sutton

Photo credit
Nick Kuhn

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

Gilgamesh, the Sumerian king of Uruk, threatens to cut down the sacred Cedar Forest and claim its wood for his people. First, he must kill the terrifying guardian of the forest, Humbaba. Can he do it? What will the gods think, and what will it mean for humanity? The story's message is central to John Perlin's republished book, A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization. Forests, and the wood they provide, have been crucial to human society since the beginning of recorded time, and now the fight against climate change. But what does history tell us about how we treat them?

Guest
John Perlin
Historian, author of A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization
Patagonia Books
john-perlin.com

Voice Dramatization
Martha Douglas-Osmundson
LinkedIn

Consulting Editor
David Still, II

Special Thanks to:
My father, David Still, for his advice and interpretation of The Epic of Gilgamesh

All readings from the Epic of Gilgamesh translated by Andrew George.

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

King James II of England threatened to revoke the precious Charter of Connecticut in 1687, and sent one of his men to retrieve it. That meant an end to the colony's limited democracy and independence.  But before it was exchanged during a key meeting, a hero slipped out of the room with it under his arm and hid it within the cavity of an old oak tree. That tree - the Charter Oak - is now a state icon. Get the full story here!

Guest Co-Host and Researcher
Jean Zimmerman
Arborist and author
jeanzimmerman.com
"In the Hidden History of Connecticut's Charter Oak" (blog)

Guests
Robert Storm
Honorary Governor General of the Society of Colonial Wars, Connecticut
Society of Colonial Wars in Connecticut

Jack Hale
Chair, Hartford Tree Advisory Commission

Christopher Martin
Connecticut State Forester
CT State Forestry - Dept. of Energy and Environmental Protection

Allan Fenner
Consulting Arborist

Robb Barnard (Voice of Mark Twain)
Head of Performing Arts
Lincoln School, Providence, RI
lincolnschool.org

Consulting Editor
David Still, II

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org

Picture yourself in Harlem in New York City, and it’s the 1920’s. There’s a cultural awakening going on - there’s jazz and dance, theater and literature, big celebrities and lots of new talent looking for a break. And of course - because this is a show about trees - there's a tree that becomes a symbol of the Harlem Renaissance. It’s the Tree of Hope, and it was a good luck charm to black performers looking to make the big time. Garden historian and storyteller Abra Lee tells the story of this particular tree’s rise to fame, its demise, and its enduring legacy.

Guest
Abra Lee
Garden Historian, Horticulturist, Arborist
Author of the forthcoming book, Conquer the Soil: Black America and the Untold Story of Our Country's Gardeners, Farmers, and Growers (2025)
conquerthesoil.com

Consulting Editor
David Still, II

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com

Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home

Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.

Follow on
Facebook or Instagram

We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
doug@thisoldtree.net

This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
litartsri.org