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|  250year to 400 year old tree removed Annapolis
Farewell to the giving tree - Annapolis - (HometownAnnapolis.com)  Chris Coates, forman and climber for Bartlett Tree Experts, is raised into a centuries-old English elm tree on Franklin Avenue in Annapolis. Quote: |
Farewell to the giving tree
City loses one of its oldest residents
By NICOLE YOUNG, Staff Writer
Published May 02, 2008
For centuries, one Annapolis resident led a quiet existence at the corner of Franklin and Murray streets. It was one of the oldest - if not the oldest English elm in the city - with its age estimated from 250 to 400 years old.
On Wednesday, neighbors watched as workers from Bartlett Tree Experts began dismantling the elderly tree limb-by-limb.
It had finally succumbed to deterioration and decay, having reached the point where branches were falling unexpectedly, posing a hazard for pedestrians.
"Everybody's been mourning the loss of such a wonderful tree," said Bill Garrett, who lives on Franklin Street.
Many people already had their last hurrah with the tree, as property owners Rev. Bill Hathaway, First Presbyterian Church pastor, and his wife, Alison Halsey, had a party at the end of March to celebrate the tree's life.
The night before its removal, Ms. Halsey and her husband set up a swing from it for one last time and the morning it was removed a group a school children even gathered around it, hugging the trunk before setting off for class, Ms. Halsey said.
"Kids wrote poems for it and drew pictures of it," she said. "It's been a grand neighborhood tree."
It was known as the "manse tree" by parishioners of the First Presbyterian Church - the manse being the home of the pastor and family. Church members had worked for more than 40 years to keep the tree alive, adding support cables to the branches and at one point, even putting cement in the trunk.
But that didn't keep the branches from periodically falling into the street or onto nearby properties, especially during rain and ice storms.
"It just became a hazard," Ms. Halsey said.
Church members even went before the Historic Preservation Commission earlier this month to request the tree be removed, said Patricia Blick, head of historic preservation for the city Department of Planning and Zoning. Tree removal within the city's Historic District is subject to commission approval, she said.
Ms. Halsey said they were required to plant three trees in the area in an effort to replace the elm.
Chris Coates, foreman and climber for Bartlett, estimated the tree trunk had a circumference of more than 18 feet. He said the tree had decay in many of the hollow parts in addition to a number of structural defects.
"Ordinarily, this isn't something we like to do, remove history," he said. "It's a gem. But there comes a point when it's necessity."
He said taking the tree apart was a difficult and timely endeavor, especially considering the concrete filling. The job took the entire day and the work of about eight men.
Mr. Coates estimated a 4-foot-section of the tree can weigh about 8,000 pounds. To take down the portion filled with concrete the men have to "cut slow and keep an eye on it," he said.
And even though some of the wood is going to be used in crafts by the local woodworkers, it still doesn't replace the years of shade and comfort the tree has provided, Ms. Halsey said.
Standing just off to the side of her yard, she could only shake her head and watch as Mr. Coates swung from side-to-side, removing branches.
"It's already weird," she said. "It's a real loss."
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