Hey all, so I was in SC on a little vacation. Driving down one of the busier highways and saw string lights and woodsmoke, so obviously had to stomp the brakes and turn in to see what they had going. Turned out to be a little general store, with a lot for food trucks and a small stage for music. But the best part was a huge iron cauldron that they have campfires going in! The wood looked strange to me, had grain and color that looked like oak, but the bark and smell was all wrong. So after a beer and some time standing by the fire I asked the owner. He said it is Live Oak, they burn a ton of it. Did a deep dive, seems like live oak is an evergreen oak, not something I come across in WI. Anybody here ever score and/or burn it?
I have a sister that lives in southern South Carolina. She told us of the Angel Oak and we visited it. Spectacular!! Angel Oak Tree - Charleston, SC - Free Pictures I fell 2 trees that were problematic for them many years ago that were live oak. Didn’t pay much attention to the wood itself at the time. It was many years ago. Never got to burn any either. T.Jeff Veal has experience with it.
I burned some in the Low Country of South Carolina. Only when big storms took off limbs though. Burns fine like any hardwood if dry. Got a picture of my dog climbing the angel oak in Charleston. Cool specimens.
I have some in the stacks somewhere. It’s more common towards the coast. I grabbed a big limb that had broken off a tree. The streets of Savannah are lined with them.
When I lived in Brunswick Ga. There were Live Oaks everywhere. Some of my favorite squirrel hunting groves had lots of these trees. Many pictures of Oaks festooned with Spanish moss, lining a plantation carriage way, are Live Oak trees. It was a favorite of BBQ'ers, both establishments and just folks, in the area. If I remember correctly, Live Oak timber procured on St. Simons Island near Brunswick was used to cover the hull of "Old Ironsides" of "War of 1812" fame! Live Oak from St. Simons was also used during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge.
During my lifetime, in this northern part of the state, live oak has not been native, there are none growing in the woods, but it is fairly common as a yard tree. They live hundreds of years. The wood is about as dense a wood as we have here, very heavy. Takes a long time to season, burns hot. They rarely blow down here but I get one or a big limb now and then. Or a utility pruning score. And the limbs can be as big as a whole tree! Beautiful, sprawling masses of a tree, but that takes a human lifetime to achieve. Squirrels love 'em, huge, arching limbs to run on.
I don't think I have ever cut any live oak. We have some evergreen type oak on our place left, loggers cut some.........but it grows pretty straight, heard it might be laurel oak. As Chud said, grows closer to the coast. It is very dense and strong wood, used in the old sailing ships. A good bit of history on that, shipmasters would buy entire groves of trees, then pick out different curved limbs to make the bows from. Here are a few pictures from live oaks we've seen. The oak lined drive going into Boone Hall Plantation, outside Charleston, SC. More oaks on the Plantation grounds... Can't remember where these 2 were. But a type of palm was growing in the crotch on this tree. This one was fairly straight This twisted specimen was in Brunswick, GA, at a little restaurant called Indigo Coastal Shanty. One of the many parks in Savannah GA... The Angel Oak, John's Island SC... Those limbs are LONG... This one was.on Jekyll Island, GA I've heard it is hard to split...
Awe inspiring pics there, T Jeff Veal. I come here as much to geek out over trees as I do to discuss firewood and always appreciate the contributions of like minded individuals.
Great pictures, Jeff. I have been to several of those places! Did you catch the squirrel in the picture with the bench?
Live oaks are amazing. Houmas House, LA about ten years ago. I'm a little over 6'2 210 for reference.
I burn a lot of live oak. It burns as well as oak with the same long drying time. It's harder to process/CSS because it is never straight. It grows like crazy here.
I too love seeing the live oaks, especially when they have the moss hanging off of them. One of my favorite things about a trip south.
