I just had a second person who lives in Newton but grew up somewhere else tell me about ‘volunteer trees’ in their yard. The woman on Parmenter Road grew up in Kansas, the woman on Myrtle Street in Missouri and Iowa. What they’re talking about is trees that sprout on their own instead of being planted on purpose. Even though I spent a few years in Chicago and Detroit, I’d never heard the term until about a month ago, and find it utterly charming. So much more positive than the only expression I can think of — ‘weed trees’ — which I’d reserve for Norway maples and ailanthus (tree of heaven).
Does anyone else use this expression, and if so, where are you from originally? I’m wondering what other neat expressions are out there that I just haven’t stumbled across, being holed up in the Northeast.
Julia, my mother always referred to them as volunteers. She was from RI, as was her mother, who said “volunteer trees” too. My wife’s family is from VT and they say the same thing. I didn’t know there was another word for them.
Julia: We call them volunteer trees in New Jersey and New York, too. : )
Wow, this is sounding like everyplace but Massachusetts. Anyone who grew up in Mass. use the term, and somehow I just never heard it? I never heard my parents (father from upstate NY, mother from Brighton) use it, and we actually had one of those trees in our backyard on Waltham St. It was a tiny Norway maple sapling when we left for 3 years in England in 1967, more substantial when we got back, and they just let it keep growing. As far as I know it’s still there, I haven’t peeked in the back yard in a couple of years, but looks like it’s there on Google satellite view.
Hi, Julie. I’ve never lived anywhere but Newton. I first heard the term when I became a homeowner in the mid-1980’s and have used it ever since. However, I can’t remember who first taught it to me….perhaps a “transplant” from another state? But regardless of where I learned, it is a term I use.
Julie, I think that just might be a standard word all over. I just checked a few on-line dictionaries and they all list that meaning for “volunteer” with no mention of it being a regional term.
I’m a little late to reply but wanted to chime in. We call them volunteers in Dallas and everything grows bigger in Texas… Especially volunteers.
Jim
Welcome, Jim! How did you find this two-year-old thread? Are you in Newton or Texas?
I like the expression “volunteer tree” so much, I’ve been using it at every opportunity since learning it. 🙂