The Hobart Oak: How far would YOU go?

does anyone have pics of the luna tree in humboldt? if so send some please or post for other folks viewing. thats the one julia butterfly hill sat in to save from pl. once she was down somone came along with a big saw and cut a big section of the cambium and the tree was repaired with huge steel gussets ( made and paid for by pl) id like to see the engineering of that job.. some day i will hike out to it but havent had the time yet.
 
"i wouldnt say they they didnt do our profession proud, most people would rather pay to remove it than "try" and save it. i think its great but few shell out that kind of dough."

1. This client was not most people. It's up to the arborist to determine the client's needs, especially when they are old and frail.

2. In fact, no person is most people.

3. The propping cost less than removal and replacement would have. Arboriculture doesn't cost, it pays.

4. If people are shown the value of trees, they will shell out more dough to keep them growing. And it will be dough well baked, tasty and nutrutious.

5. those contractors did not do our profession proud.

6. "Try"? there is no "Try". Do or not do, that is all.
A paraphrase of The Venerable Master Yoda.
 
Neat tree Nicco. Try to get an article out of it.

There'sd an old Oak in NJ called the Basking Ridge Oak. It has numerous cables and supports installed in it. They say that G. Washington had a picnic under it and that it's over 600 years old. Here's the tree:

TreeBaskingRidge.jpg


And here's some copy:
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The Black Plague had devastated Europe when the acorn pushed its roots into the soil of an unnamed continent. While Europe struggled with poverty, famine and war, the sapling grew into a tree; Woodland Indians hunted, fired pottery, planted small crops and perhaps rested against the oak's expanding trunk. Native Americans knew how to boil tree bark and use the wash as an antiseptic or astringent to sooth rashes, ulcers and burns. If they used the tree as a medicine chest, they did no harm. The tree's girth expanded through the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper and Columbus sailed the ocean blue; it grew during the Sack of Rome and Elizabeth's reign of England. By the time settlers founded Jamestown in 1607, the oak had passed its 200th birthday. When Europeans purchased land in soon-to-be Basking Ridge from the Lenni Lenape Indians, the tree had become a mature giant. With its hard, close-grained wood, oak would become one of North America's most important trees. Despite the settlers' growing need for houses, barns and fencing, the tree prospered as a local landmark. Under its spreading boughs, an English evangelist preached to 3,000 people in1740. A few decades later, Continental troops would picnic in its shade. By the nineteenth century, the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church had enshrined the venerable oak behind the cemetery walls. Today the old oak ­ more than six hundred years old ­ stands 97 feet tall. Thick branches extend 156 feet over the ground. Metal pillars support its massive limbs.



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Does anyone else appreciate the irony of seeing so many grand, living trees, in cemetaries? I like the juxtaposition just fine! If I were to take up space in the earth on my way to becoming worm food I could only wish to be buried under such a wonderful tree!
 
Good point Tom....I have seen many like that myself. It was probably stable when it layed over and rested on supporting limbs.

Of all the trees I have see fall over like that , I myself have not seen them fall again. Being it's a residential tree I could see why they would want to support it for reasurance. However , if it was my tree, I dont think I would want to look out my front window and see those big tri pods in my front yard. but what the hey! if you got the money and you and it means that much to someone, more power to ya. I think it would have been in my wood shed though .

Fine craftmenship on the wood work to .

Greg
 
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Me too. I pruned this Oak that stands across from my great granfather's plot.

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Hmmm, according to some it should have looked like this, looks like you did nothing. /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 

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[ QUOTE ]
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Me too. I pruned this Oak that stands across from my great granfather's plot.

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Hmmm, according to some it should have looked like this, looks like you did nothing. /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

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Man I've given moderators a hard time before but Ekka you really cut deep! /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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"i wouldnt say they they didnt do our profession proud, most people would rather pay to remove it than "try" and save it. i think its great but few shell out that kind of dough."

1. This client was not most people. It's up to the arborist to determine the client's needs, especially when they are old and frail.

2. In fact, no person is most people.

3. The propping cost less than removal and replacement would have. Arboriculture doesn't cost, it pays.

4. If people are shown the value of trees, they will shell out more dough to keep them growing. And it will be dough well baked, tasty and nutrutious.

5. those contractors did not do our profession proud.

6. "Try"? there is no "Try". Do or not do, that is all.
A paraphrase of The Venerable Master Yoda.

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i think youd waste alot of time if you proposed this sort of thing every time you came to bid a tree like this. like i said i like it, i think for what happened it looks pretty good and is very creative. im working on a permenant system to support two small- med sized trees that failed and are temporarily tied up. would you have honestly have sugested this had you come on the job site. (thats a general state ment to ask your self) i find the customer lets you know what they want in this situation. "can we save this?" or "how much to clear this out?" .02
 
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Man I've given moderators a hard time before but Ekka you really cut deep! /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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I just couldn't pass up that opportunity and believe me I restrained myself! /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Real talking point in the neighbourhood I should imagine...

Dan raises a good point regarding the rotational stability of the tree.
However, I have some large examples of windblown trees still growing that we manage on the estate. mostly sweet chestnut. The limbs on these have become trees in themselves, but still feed from the original root system. And the whole thing is still surprisigly stable.

Eric, nice to see you staying true to form...
 
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Eric, nice to see you staying true to form...

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Hey, you did visit the US not long back hey, hmmm, didn't happen to go down that aways did ya? /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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i think youd waste alot of time if you proposed this sort of thing every time you came to bid a tree like this. ...

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Actually, it a split second you could do a lot of probing to figure out the plan of attack.

You walk onto the lawn, assess the situation, see that the tree COULD be saved, then ask the person, "How far would you go to save this tree?"

Many will stop you right there and tell you to get rid of it. I bet a lot of people would respond suprised, not even thinking saving it was an option...then you become the hero tree guy!

Guy, I'm with you on all the points you made, except...

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5. those contractors did not do our profession proud.


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Not quite sure I follow you there? The people that were responsible for this are not part of our profession. Are you ashamed of what they did?

Oh, and I'll DEFINATELY take you up on the reviewing/splicing offer!

love
nick
 
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The people that were responsible for this are not part of our profession. Are you ashamed of what they did?

Oh, and I'll DEFINATELY take you up on the reviewing/splicing offer!


[/ QUOTE ]Nick sorry to be unclear; I was talking about the tree companies who saw nothing in it but a removal. Your approach of determining client goals and priorities right away is very good.

Look forward to seeing your first draft!

And later I'll look forward to Tasting my first draft! /forum/images/graemlins/9lame.gif
 
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Me too. I pruned this Oak that stands across from my great granfather's plot.

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Hmmm, according to some it should have looked like this, looks like you did nothing. /forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

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Funny Eric. /forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Truth is the Oak was pruned too harshly in the past (IMO). It also had three sets of lightning protection in it. All I did was remove the deadwood.
 
Man...I get to a thread too late and all the good comments and insight have already been stated. I really, really like what they did...I especially like the fact that they used wood for the support structers. It kinda reminds me of the old saying "one mans junk is another mans treasure". As long as there is no real threat to neighborhood kids or anyone for that matter...I say I hope that tree lives as long as possible. I suppose its also easier to prune an 80' tree when its on its side /forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif I would like to see time laps photos for this every few seasons to document how it does.
 
It really shows us a missed opportunity. If the time had been taken to understand the importance of the tree to the prospective client and what it would take to preserve the tree this could've been great publicity for the tree company that completed the task. It could've incorporated the necessary guying to address side loading.

Now instead of the BUZZ being around "ABC" TREE EXPERTS for it's efforts (and the profits) it's about the neighbours...

There's a 450+ yr old Sugar Maple in Ontario known as the "Comfort Maple" that has as many cables as it has limbs to keep it up. This is now a landmark tourist attraction for the town.
 
[quote would you have honestly have sugested this had you come on the job site. (thats a general state ment to ask your self) i find the customer lets you know what they want in this situation. "can we save this?" or "how much to clear this out?" .02

[/ QUOTE ]

That's the problem, most wouldn't. In effect presuming the client has greater knowledge and expertise then the professional arborist. This is the sort of value-added work that can set a company apart. My tree id instructor showed us photos of huge trees on a Long Island estate where the client went to great expense to build a brick and concrete patio suspended over the trees' root systems on steel beams.

How much time would it take to ask a few questions first and make a recommendation that could make your profitable removal quote look good if they don't go ahead with the preservation.

Reminds me of the story of the old bull and the young bull...... /forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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