Eucalyptus is part of the Myrtle tree family. Nearly all eucalyptus are evergreen, but some tropical species lose their leaves at the end of the dry season. As in other members of the myrtle family, eucalyptus leaves are covered with oil glands. Most species of Eucalyptus are native to Australia, and every state and territory has representative species. About three-quarters of Australian forests are eucalypt forests. Wildfire is a feature of the Australian landscape and many eucalypt species are adapted to fire, and re-sprout after fire or have seeds which survive fire. Size varies from small 33ft high to tall which can grow over 100ft. Eucalyptus oil is highly flammable; ignited trees have been known to explode. Eucalyptus is the most common short fiber source for pulpwood to make pulp. In the 1850s, Eucalyptus trees were introduced to California by Australians during the California Gold Rush. Much of California is similar in climate to parts of Australia. By the early 1900s, thousands of acres of eucalypts were planted with the encouragement of the state government. It was hoped that they would provide a renewable source of timber for construction, furniture making and railway sleepers. It was soon found that for the latter purpose eucalyptus was particularly unsuitable, as the ties made from eucalyptus had a tendency to twist while drying, and the dried ties were so tough that it was nearly impossible to hammer rail spikes into them. One way in which the eucalyptus, mainly the blue gum proved valuable in California was in providing windbreaks for highways, orange groves, and farms in the mostly treeless central part of the state. They are also admired as shade and ornamental trees in many cities and gardens.

Mesquite is one of the most expensive types of lumber native to the US. It was a popular type of wood used by early Spaniards to build ships, but is now used most commonly for high-end rustic furniture and cabinets. Scraps and small pieces are used commonly as wood for cooking with smoke in Southern states. In the eyes of Native Americans, the mesquite tree of the Southwest represented both shade and sustenance. The tree's sugar-rich bean pods furnished food and drink. Its sap became black dye, gum, and medicine. And sewing needles were made from its sharp thorns. The tribes relied on mesquite wood, too, for fuel, arrows, lodge frames, and even plowshares. Later, pioneer hands worked mesquite into timbers, railroad ties, fence posts, wagon wheels, and sturdy rustic furniture. In the late 1800s, citizens of San Antonio paved the streets leading to their Texas shrine, the Alamo, with mesquite slabs. In testament to mesquite's durability, remnants of the wood still surface from the activity of street maintenance. While most 20th-century craftsmen equate mesquite with only the barbecue grill, bands of aficionados promote the wood as furniture-class stock. Their efforts have lifted the wood's reputation out of its native land. Seven species of mesquite cover some 54 million acres of Texas, and parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Mexico. Wherever it grows, it's hardy and persistent. In the arid part of its range, you'll see mesquite as more of a shrub than a tree. But in favorable conditions it grows to 50' with a single, but crooked, trunk up to 3' in diameter. Chocolate-colored, furrowed, and scaly bark make mesquite easy to identify. Its wide, spreading canopy made of twisted branches and long, thin leaves may be the only silhouette on an otherwise featureless landscape. Spring through fall, yellowish white flowers appear, followed by bean pods up to 8" long. Sharp thorns are ever present. The wood of mesquite can vary in color from dark brown with wavy, blackish lines to camel tan. Whatever its color, the grain is straight to wavy, medium to course in texture, and tightly interlocked. Weighing 45 pounds per cubic foot dry, it's as heavy as hickory and as strong, but even harder. And the wood rates as stable in use, indoors and out.

Acacias are graceful trees that grow in warm climates such as Hawaii, Mexico and the southwestern United States. The foliage is typically bright green or bluish-green and the small blooms may be creamy white, pale yellow or bright yellow. Acacia may be evergreen or deciduous. Most acacia tree types are fast growers, but they usually live only 20 to 30 years. Many varieties are valued for their long roots which help stabilize the soil in areas threatened by erosion. The sturdy roots reach deep for underground water, which explains why the tree tolerates extreme drought conditions. Many types of acacia are protected by long, sharp thorns and an extremely unpleasant flavor that discourages animals from eating the leaves and bark. Acacias are well adapted to deserts and tropical areas. Therefore, they have a wide distribution and are native to Australia, South Africa, the Southwestern United States, and South and Central America. Some people plant species of these trees for their attractive yellow blooms.

Rocky Mountain juniper can be a shrub or small tree, growing 3 to 30 feet tall. It branches near the ground, and has more of a Christmas tree shape than Utah juniper. Rocky Mountain juniper pollinates April to May, juniper "berries" mature October to December of the second year following pollination. Rocky Mountain juniper is a dry, or more rarely, moist, sub humid plant which grows well on open, exposed bluffs, rocky points, or ridgetops, on southern exposures and in ravines or canyons. It is found between 5,000 and 9,000 feet elevation. Bryce Canyon National Park is home to three species of junipers. At high to mid elevations you will encounter a spreading shrub called Common Junipers. The low elevation forests consist mostly of Utah Juniper, and Colorado Pinyon. Rocky Mountain Juniper is common in Bryce's middle elevations. Although the Rocky Mountain Juniper can be found growing in close proximity with Utah Junipers, it prefers sites that are more cool and shady. Usually tall and slender, the Rocky Mountain Juniper grows up to 45 feet tall with trunks 18 inches in diameter. They can survive because their leaves, which they retain all year, are reduced to tiny, waxy scales covering their twigs and small branches. Their fruits or fleshy cones which resemble berries but are actually cones, have one or several seeds inside, and are coated with water-retaining wax. The juniper berries are pea-to-marble-sized, usually blue in color, with a powdery coating that can be rubbed off to reveal its greenish-brown flesh. The seeds are mealy and fibrous. The bark is gray-green on the surface but reddish-brown and fibrous underneath. Rocky Mountain Juniper is also known as Aromatic red cedar and has a distinct and tell-tale scent. The wood is commonly used in closets and chest to repel moths and other insects. Although severe reactions to toxicity are quite uncommon Aromatic Red Cedar has been reported to cause skin and respiratory irritation. Tennessee Red Cedar is also a common name for Rocky Mountain Juniper.

Indian Rosewood also known as “Dalbergia sissoo. It is a fast growing hardy deciduous rosewood tree native to Indian subcontinent and Southern Iran. Sissoo is native to the foothills of the Himalayas. Grows primarily below 3000ft. and grow up to 82ft. tall and 6-9 feet in diameter, but usually smaller. Flowers are whitish to pink and fragrant.

Black Locust is a very hard and strong wood, competing with Hickory as the strongest and stiffest domestic timber: but with more stability and rot resistance. Although it shares a similar common name with Honey Locust, the two aren’t in the same genus, Black Locust tends to be slightly heavier, harder, and with more of a green or yellow tinge, while Honey Locust tends to have a warmer orange or red tint. Black locust reaches a typical height of 40–100 feet with a diameter of 2–4 feet. Exceptionally, it may grow up to 171 feet tall and 5.2 feet diameter in very old trees. Black locust is a shade-intolerant species and therefore is typical of young woodlands and disturbed areas where sunlight is plentiful and the soil is dry. In this sense, black locust can often grow as a weed tree. It also often spreads by underground shoots or suckers, which contributes to the weedy character of this species. Young trees are often spiny, but mature trees often lack spines. In the early summer black locust flowers; the flowers are large and appear in large, intensely fragrant clusters reminiscent of orange blossoms. Although similar in general appearance to the honey locust, the black locust lacks that tree's characteristic long branched thorns on the trunk, having instead the pairs of short prickles at the base of each leaf; the leaflets are also much broader than honey locust. Common Uses: Fence post, boatbuilding, flooring, furniture, mine timbers, railroad ties, turned objects and veneer.

General Andrew Jackson's soldiers nicknamed him Old Hickory. His Tennesseans knew the wood well enough to make that comparison because it grew abundantly in their state. If something had to be tough and strong, they made it of hickory—from ax, hammer, pick, and shovel handles to wagon spokes, hitch trees, and rims. Worked green, it became chairs. The Choctaws and other Indians of the lower Mississippi River Valley had long used hickory for bows and baskets, but they also drew on its sap for sweet syrup and sugar and its nuts for cakes and meal. The pioneers who followed Davy Crockett valued hickory as firewood, too. (It produces 24 million BTUs per cord; about the same output as 200 gallons of No. 2 fuel oil.) They also smoked ham and bacon with hickory. Traditionally, hickory has been used for objects that require strength and must take abuse--tool and implement handles, ladder rungs, and wagon wheels. In sports, hickory became hockey sticks, tennis rackets, bows, skis, and even fishing rods. Man-made materials have replaced hickory in many of these products today, but the wood still lends itself to chairs, rockers, stools, and tables--and any project requiring bent wood. North America claims 16 species of hickory, of which the most abundant and commercially important is the shagbark. Other species native to the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada include the shellbark, bitternut, mockernut, pignut, water, swamp, and pecan. The hardwood lumber industry, though, doesn't distinguish between them. Although hickory grows best in bottomland soils, you'll find it on loamy hillsides as well as rocky slopes. In the forest, hickory will grow to 140' tall and a diameter of 30", frequently with no branches for 50-60'. Shagbark and shellbark hickory have long, loose plates of gray bark that appear to be peeling off the trunk. The bark of other hickories varies from furrowed to ridged, but always has a gray color. Hickories generally have from five to seven oblong, pointed leaflets per leaf stem, including a grouping of three at the tip. The fruit develops during the summer into woody four-lobed husks up to 2" long that contain the nut.

The pieces shown here are (top to bottom) Maple, Birch and Hickory. These are rare to come across and you don’t really know the amount of spalting until you start the piece.

Spalted wood is colored by fungus living within the structure. The coloring gives the wood a unique appearance and increases its value. ... Spalted wood is commonly used for artistic wooden pieces, such as decorative bowls or statues. Although most varieties of spalted wood are safe for human interaction, their weakened state and potential health hazard typically makes them unsuitable for some purposes. Spalting is any form of wood coloration caused by fungi. Although primarily found in dead trees, spalting can also occur in living trees under stress. Although spalting can cause weight loss and strength loss in the wood, the unique coloration and patterns of spalted wood are sought by woodworkers. Spalting is divided into three main types: pigmentation, white rot, and zone lines. Spalted wood may exhibit one or all of these types in varying degrees. Both hardwoods (deciduous) and softwoods (coniferous) can spalt, but zone lines and white rot are more commonly found on hardwoods due to enzymatic differences in white rotting fungi. Spalting is caused by certain white-rot decay fungi growing in woods primarily hardwoods such as maple, birch, and beech. Like most maple, spalted maple is used as a veneer and typically paired with a mahogany body. Its unique appearance is due to fungus that invades the wood and creates distinct black striping called zone lines. These lines are built up by the fungus as a way to delineate itself from the rest of the wood or other fungi.

The name ash comes from the word “spear,” which could be a reference to its spear-shaped leaves or the fact that ancient peoples used the tree to make weaponry. It’s also tied to many legends. Norse mythology refers to it as “The World Tree” and claims the first man came from ash and burning ash as a Yule log assures a prosperous year ahead. The sapwood is light-colored to nearly white and the heartwood varies from grayish or light brown, to pale yellow streaked with brown. The wood is generally straight-grained with a coarse uniform texture. The degree and availability of light-colored sapwood, and other properties, will vary according to the growing regions. Ash has very good overall strength properties relative to its weight. It has excellent shock resistance and is good for steam bending. Many uses such as furniture, flooring, doors, architectural millwork and moldings, kitchen cabinets, paneling, tool handles, baseball bats, sporting equipment, and turnings. It is particularly suitable for food and liquid containers since there is no odor or taste.

These piece have all been made as a custom item. The woods all vary from Walnut, Cherry, Apple, Rocky Mountain Juniper, Acacia, Cottonwood Burl, Eucalyptus and Pine.

top to bottom

Apple; Citrus; Pecan; Pecan; Pecan; Peach; Citrus; Pecan

Fruit and Nuts

Do they grow in an orchard or a grove?

What’s the difference between an orchard and a grove?

Apples grow in orchards, but oranges and citrus grow in groves.

An orchard is an area of land devoted to the cultivation of fruit or nut trees.

Orchard is also defined as the tree cultivated in such area.

A grove is a small wood or stand of trees lacking dense undergrowth.

Grove is also defined as a group of trees planted and cultivated for fruit or nut production.

An orchard always has to consist or fruit or nut trees, but a grove does not. That is the big difference.

Orchards are usually maintained is a grove-like manner, with all the competing underbrush removed. So an orchard can almost always be considered a grove by both definitions of the word, but a grove is not always an orchard.

People plant orchards with trees meant to bear fruit or nuts, whereas groves aren’t necessarily planted. So an orange or citrus grove might be more accurately called an orange or citrus orchard. The problem is, orange or citrus orchard doesn’t sound nearly as pleasant as orange or citrus grove.

You can say that oranges or citrus are grown in orchards or groves, but orange orchard or citrus orchard sounds to clumsy so the norm became orange or citrus grove.

These are custom pieces and certain items can be added to enhance the piece such as a necklace, earrings, coins, golf markers, or other memorabilia.

Some of the smaller urns can be used for that loving pet ashes.