...we have to keep them warm at night.

Knitters Dress Up Trees For Public Art
I guess some people have extra time on thier hands.


And a pa-arka on a pear tree.

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If I wasn't on a phone meeting right now, I'd have loled.

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And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

I thought dressing pets like humans was stupid looking.

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If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.
Contact Carl Sagan
He who shall win loses, he who loses wins.
-the five doctors
http://davidsuniverse.wordpress.com/

...At least they could have dressed it in something that looks good, instead of like Punky Brewster. I think they need Lumberjack Eye for the Wooden Guy.

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Punky Brewster was cute as all-get-out. Don't be slagging on the kid for her unconventional desire to dress in all colors simultaneously.

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And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Punky was a kid, it's okay for her to dress like that. But this is a grown tree with a job and a family.

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

I put this in the same category as that "artist" Crisco who wants to go to a beautiful river in Colorado and drape it in a bunch of pink plastic in the name of "art." Nature doesn't need this kind of improvement. Only someone from a city would look at a river and say, "Needs pink plastic." Same for trees.

That would be Christo.

Whatever. I remember the name Crisco as lard used for cooking. Cristo is, IMO, an oily "artist" who solicits contributions to create his "art."

What a waste of wool. I hope nobody in Ohio is in need of some cozy clothes.

BTW, Christo is off-fashion nowadays with all those massive plastic wrappings...

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What brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart

I wouldn't. While both concepts could be considered rather gaudy and useless, the tree sweaters are much less intrusive. The tree-knitters don't seem to be doing this solely as a publicity stunt. They seem to be enjoying this more as a hobby.

I wonder what pattern they use... Knit 1, pear 2?

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

Not at all. It may have been a blizzard this weekend, but it was a warm blizzard.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

So, that's what they mean by knit-wits!

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

They may end up killing the trees as well, especially if the sweaters aren't removed come spring when the trees start growing again.

Will the dyed wool be toxic to the trees if the bark grows into/around the wool fibers? Odds are, neither do they.

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And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling [faces] lyin' to ye' everywhere ye' go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

My guess is that there is enough stretch and breathability to allow for un-impeded growth, and that the fibers would break down before it is a problem.
I doubt a yarn could be that toxic. There would be sweater wearers keeling over and filing lawsuits everywhere.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

I think this thread is starting to unravel.

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

I wonder if a nice warm sweater could start the sap flowing in a maple tree a bit early, or closer to on-time in the event of a harsh winter. Just wondering!

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Microsoft is over if you want it.

The bar has been lowered for the promotion of ATM ideas; the bar for the acceptance of ATM ideas must remain high.

I now officially condemn CM's skits as smartaleck, ignorant, sophomoric, inflammatory and and a poor reflection on the level of discussion in BAUT. -- Bob Angstrom

Perhaps as a way of increasing syrup production in maples..?

'Nother stack o' waffles, please!

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"Any technology, no matter how primitive, is magic to those who don't understand it." - Florence Ambrose

Once, I tripped from a pear tree while drinking.

I hate being impearred.

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All moderations in purple.

You ain't nobody 'til you've been banned.

I think it's silly and fun, exactly what a hobby should be.

It's also obvious that there aren't many knitters (or spouses/friends of knitters) around here. If I tell my wife about it she will undoubtedly knit a panel for the tree.

The Ankh-Morpork Knitter's Guild is just finishing a large quilt to send to Terry Pratchett, with apparently hundreds of squares, each illustrating a theme, character or object from Discworld. My wife's contribution was a bat (from the homing bats in Going Postal).

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There is room for an existential shiver in the dark between the stars.

Quite the opposite, I'd say. A sweater keeps you warm only because you are warmer than the surroundings (it helps a lot that you also generate heat).

So, in the fall (when the air is getting cooler) a sweater might keep the tree warmer than ambient for a little while. In the spring (when the air is getting warmer), the sweater, if anything, would keep the sap cool longer.

Are you sure trees don't generate some heat? I see less snow underneath some evergreen trees, and it isn't just from foliage blocking the snow, I also see the amount of snow under an evergreen diminish in the days after a snowfall. After a day or two there won't be any snow under some evergreens.
I suspect that only in the worst of winters do deciduous trees ever drop below freezing under the inner bark. Hmmm, I'll have to Google this ...

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Microsoft is over if you want it.

The bar has been lowered for the promotion of ATM ideas; the bar for the acceptance of ATM ideas must remain high.

I now officially condemn CM's skits as smartaleck, ignorant, sophomoric, inflammatory and and a poor reflection on the level of discussion in BAUT. -- Bob Angstrom

I like Christo's stuff!

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When you're standing on the edge of nowhere, there's only one way up...
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Rovers forever! - ToSeek

As far as I know trees don't generate heat, but I have seen the effect you are talking about. I've always assumed it was two effects: foliage blocking the snow, and dark tree trunks absorb some sunlight and warm slightly above ambient air temperature (you'll actually see more of an effect on South facing sides in the Northern hemisphere). I suppose a third effect, particularly with evergreens with thick foliage, could be that the foliage acts as insulation, prevents some of the radiant cooling of the ground and the tree at night, and keeps the ground and the tree trunk slightly warmer.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

I agree... I thought the article was cute!!

And it looks like the Tree isn't complaining.

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Jean
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"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." - Albert Einstein

"The good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge " - Bertrand Russell

Well, they generate a small amount of heat through respiration, but I doubt that it is enough to cause the effect that Celestial Mechanic described. I think each of your mechanisms contributes to the phenomenon. I really notice it under the white spruce that grow around here. They typically have long crowns that intercept a lot of snow, and when that snow eventually slides off, a good portion of it is probably deflected away from the bole. That means the albedo will be lower around the base of the tree than for other species, which ensures that on a warm, sunny day, this species develops a larger snow-free area than other species. Just by chance, a picture that I took earlier today shows the effect for some young trees. The tree immediately behind and to the left of the (sad-looking) spruce is a lodgepole pine. Its growth habit is quite different, with a more open crown structure and less foliage near the bole, and I just don't see the effect that often under these trees.

And what about the decay of needles beneath the tree? Pine needles will generally end up directly below the tree and won't blow away like leaves normally do.
I know they are generally more acidic, but I don't know if that can also add to it.

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Numbers are not case sensitive. (me)

I think trees are more than resilient enough to handle having wool around them (they survive all sorts of abuse, powerlines, crampons through their bark, ect - they're not delicate animals with irreplacable vital organs).

As long as this is just a zany hobby, and not a multi-million dollar public works project, I wouldn't get all dour about it. We need a few silly off-the-wall things going on - makes the drive to work much more interesting.

PS - It would be Yellow Springs, wouldn't it? I know a bit about the place.

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http://amssolarempire.blogspot.com

Tell that to a tree that's been ringed

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‘To those who regard “crime fiction” as some sacred icon which must follow a rigid formula, I will always be the man who writes 18-syllable haiku.’Trying to make sense of computers, The Error Log.