Sometime early on the morning of March 25, 2023, our honey locust tree that dates back 150 years was toppled by the high winds. The tree was between 3 and 4 feet diameter at the base (which had rotted out) and over 120 ft tall. It had needle like thorns that were over 3 inches long. In the path of its fall it destroyed our Eastern White Pine, the back fence and trellis of the Pollinator garden and several other trees. It was quite a mess.
A tree cleanup crew was organized from the Tuckaleechee Garden Club to take care of clearing the debris. On Thursday March 30, Wanda and Jerry Faulkner did an great job of clearing the limbs that were from the very top of the tree which had fallen well past the Pollinator Garden. Then on March 31: Charlotte Miller, Anna Gaultney, Allison and Rodney Pearson along with myself (Mark Seder) proceeded to to clear the rest of the limb debris, cutting down a standing dead tree plus several other trees, invasive removal and other maintenance tasks. A total of 26 hours, so far, have been spent on the debris cleanup. At this time all that is left is the trunk and several of the limbs, which are designated to be repurposed for several other Townsend River Walk & Arboretum (TRWA) projects. More to come in on those efforts in future posts.
The area where the tree fell and the clearing it left is providing us with an exciting opportunity to make some changes to that area of the TRWA. We are now evaluating what to do to make incorporate it for additional TRWA uses and once decided will be updated in our Master Plan for the TRWA. The loss of the tree is sad but the opportunities left in its wake are really exciting.
I can't give enough credit and thanks to this great group of volunteers that provided such a outstanding cleanup effort. Thank you all for your lending your time to this emergency project which are very much appreciated!
