u/TakeARideintheVan

In my quest to clean up my yard, eliminate invasive and plant natives I have started war with whatever these are.

They get big. Like trees. I have one that’s nearly 20 ft tall coming down this weekend.
They sprout up SO FAST. Like I remove 20-30 a year that are the size of the one in the picture.

My dad told me they were walnut trees (which is why I left the large one), but I do not think this is right. Someone on my other post said it was an elm.

Google told me it was some sort of sumac.

The leaves smell very strongly of this perfume, citrus sort of smell when crushed.
They are fuzzy!
What are they and why are they so persistent?

Now. I don’t WANT to remove this tree. This little (oak, I think) is kind of special to me.

We moved into this house 3 years ago. The little tree was an about 12 inch tall volunteer that had sprouted up beside a Callery Pear. I had the pear removed in hopes of putting a Magnolia tree down, but when I saw the little volunteer I felt compelled to save him. Idk. I had to leave behind a tree I planted in memory of a baby I lost in our old state so it felt kind of fitting that this little volunteer was here waiting for me to care for.

So, once the pear was down and the stump ground I carefully replanted the little tree back where it was, not really knowing what it kind of tree it was. It was late fall, so it was just a little stick with root that looked different from the pears thorny off shoots.I’ve kept it watered in hot seasons and even staked it when he got to about 3 ft tall and began to lean. You can even see the little crook it had from its wonky period.

It got straighter then over the last year it exploded in growth. Like from 5ft tall to nearly 12.

Then I started to worry. What if whatever it is, is too close to the house and too big to stay there long term. Like I said before I think it’s an Oak.

TLDR:
I want to keep if at all possible. I’m attached
It’s about 30ft from the house.
4-5 years old. I think.
I think it’s an Oak.
I’m in the rural south near New Orleans. So, I’m pretty sure it’s a native.

Will it be ok there? Can I leave him and will he ever really be an issue in *my* lifetime? Idk if he crushes this house or needs to be removed 50 years from now. I’ll most likely be dead.

If not is it possible to try and move him to a better location? What are the chances it makes it?

Or do I just cut him down now to stop delaying the inevitable and get a more appropriate tree to replace?

Found either on a rural church sidewalk or in the floorboard of our new car several months ago. My kid keeps changing the story.

It has L1 stamped on one side in the groove.

As a note, after looking at google lens I have a hunch it may be some sort of mini fig kit part? Our pastor and my husband are both very nerdy, but neither recognize this piece. But I could be wrong!

My kid has sent me on the quest to figure out what is so she can keep it forever in her collection of random things.