Ponderosa pines are "self pruning". That is, as a lower limb on a ponderosa pine receives less sun light, the limb withers and dies. As the forest grows taller, less light reaches the lower limbs of all the trees and, subsequently, the forest is left with a lot of dead limbs near the ground.
This is both unattractive and prone to fire damage. Jack has removed these dead limbs from most of our ponderosa pines. He calls this work "scragging" and, as you can image on over 10 acres of forest, this has been a large effort on his part. Jack uses a chain saw to reach as high into a tree as safety permits. He leaves the limbs on the ground around the tree where they eventually rot thereby providing nourishment to the tree.
This photograph shows one of the few ponderosa pines on our property that has not been "scragged" yet. As you view other photographs on this web site, you will notice that the lower limbs on most trees in our forest have been removed.
One consequent of "scragging" is the forest is much more open and airy. This has encouraged more grass and kinnikinnik to grow on the forest floor. This is not only looks better but attracts more wild life to our property.
