As I walked up to our field on a perfect, early October day, I noticed signs of the approaching change of seasons. We haven’t had a frost yet, and I hope we won’t for several weeks to come, but the leaves on the tall tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera) have already turned brown and are dropping. The native dogwood (Cornus florida) leaves are blush pink, and the black gums (Nyssa sylvatica) are taking on shades of orange, red, and burgundy.
One tree that won’t be changing color and dropping leaves is the massive southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) that sits majestically at the entrance to our property, surrounded on three sides—and way too closely—by several gigantic dawn redwoods (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) that will lose their fern-like leaves later in the fall.
I walked around the southern magnolia, marveling at the beauty of leathery, dark-green leaves on graceful boughs that drape to the ground. We have not removed the lower limbs of the tree, and many years of old leav...