It’s not hard to like the aged, half-dead black locust tree right in front of the farmhouse, ’cause it always looks good. It’s gnarled and sinister, kinda hypnotic, particularly on flat, grey days (I wonder if the creepy feel is a cultural thing, or if it looks that way to everyone). With the new farm move only a few days away now, a couple of weeks at most, I’m making a bit of a last-minute effort to round out the old farm snapshot collection…
It’s creepy all right :-| All kinds of snakes and dragons in there…
I’d love to show this pic to a group of children and see what they imagine/see in it. The shapes, the sprawl, beautiful. It almost reminds me of a banyan tree, not something creepy…. cultural thing, not sure, but I am from an Indian background….
All gnarled and twisted…just the way I like ’em!!!
I love it!
It does look sinister to me too, but I’m anglo-american, so… Would it look creepy to someone from Japan? From Brazil? I’d never thought of that. I wonder why old trees have that association in european culture?
I just know I love gnarly old trees.
Black locust makes great fence posts. Very resistant to rot.
This has to be the first and only post I have seen that calls the Black Locust a “favorite” tree! Here in Missouri, we try to eradicate them best we can. Only tree I know of that its thorns can take out a tractor tire. Mean, nasty, wicked trees are the adjectives usually used to describe the Black Locust.
Has anyone ever heard of burning a locust post on the bottom before entering it into the ground as a grape harbor post?
Don’t see black locust in these parts. Maine is famous for firs, rock maple, some places oak and beech, white/yellow birth and ash. Neat images and where would our kids be without trees to climb, watch the seasons change. This is a tree a neighbor Luke enjoyed a winter day playing with the area kids.
I grew up in MO and always loved these trees. Maybe I’m nuts, but they top my list of favorite tree too.