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he landscape at Lou Mac Park is about to change. The Oriental Tree Board says that the large willow oak there has to be cut down, as early as next month. This is happening because the biggest tree in the park is suffering from a very visible rot that stretches ten feet up its trunk.

A presence in Lou Mac Park for many decades, the willow oak is to be cut down as early as next month due to a bad case of decay.

“The trunk has decayed to the point where it is not safe,” says Tree Board chairman, Bob Miller of the long gash in the bark. “We have been measuring the rate of decay into the trunk for the past decade and it has reached the point where it is no longer stable enough to remain in a public park.”

The willow oak is one of 9 trees planted in the 1920’s when Lou Mac Park was new and a tree-less, shadeless space. Now one of the three remaining original trees, the oak has become a landmark, its branches spreading high and far over South Avenue and the park.

The tree’s innards look like driftwood, ridden with holes and worn away as if eroded. Some of the voids are large enough to envelop a hand.

But with the area under those branches a popular gathering place, the Tree Board and Town see a threat.

“Along with the loss of trunk strength, the decay extends up into the base of several large, heavy branches that could come down in a strong wind making removal all the more necessary,” according to a news release from the Tree Board. For full news release, cliick here.

“So many people gather under that tree for church service, Croakerfest, daily respite from the sun, family picnics, weddings, and other gatherings,” adds Town Manager Diane Miller. “We are responsible for your safety in that park.”

The decay in the willow oak at Lou Mac.

To quantify the risk, the Board did calculations on how much strength the willow oak has lost. With a formula used by arborists – where a 30% strength loss is cause for monitoring and a 50% strength loss warrants immediate removal – they pegged the Lou Mac oak’s strength loss at 43%.

Bob Miller, the Tree Board chair and a retired professor of urban forestry at the University of Wisconosin-Stevens Point, says the willow oak is the fastest-growing of the native oaks – but also the most susceptible to decay. The Tree Board is uncertain about what initially caused the rotting.

Once a local tree cutting company takes down the willow oak next month, the Tree Board plans to have a live oak moved from the Rec Field at White Farm Road to take the place of the willow oak, whose trunk is so wide it takes more than one person to encircle it. The replacement tree has a trunk with a diameter of 8 inches and will require the services of a Greenville company to scoop it up and transport it to the waterfront park.

A sizeable live oak growing at the Rec Field on the outskirts of Oriental will be transplanted at Lou Mac park as a replacement for the willow oak. Tree Board volunteer Ken King provides scale. (Photo: Oriental Tree Board)

The transplant is being paid from a $1000 gift. The donor wishes to remain anonymous.

The new live oak will become part of an expanding collection of Lou Mac trees.Town Manager Diane Miller notes that in recent years the Tree Board has planted several trees there`to help restore the canopy after the willow oak comes down. “Obviously, we cannot immediately replace such an immense canopy,” she adds, “but neither are we looking at a completely barren park.”

Ahead: A protest.

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Last week’s news of the willow oak’s shortened future prompted someone to nail a sign in to its trunk, demanding the tree not be cut. The protesting sign implores the Town to “wait till spring and see how I grow.”

In a bid to stop the planned cut down of the tree, someone hammered in a sign.

Asked about that, Tree Board chair Bob Miller noted that leaves will likely appear in a few months. “The tree is alive and will leaf out in the spring,” he says. But the tree’s health is measured by more than leaves, as the hole-ridden trunk would indicate. “Green leaves and safety,” Miller notes, “are two different things when it comes to trees.” He says the plan is on to have the tree cut down.

In an email, Bob Miller adds, “When a public tree fails, the town is responsible for damages and injuries. Obviously the tree board likes trees, which is why we have planted more than a thousand trees over the past 20 years and why we are using an anonymous $1,000 donation to the tree board to pay for moving an 8 inch diameter tree to replace the willow oak, We also take our responsibly for public safety seriously, and regrettably the tree needs to go, No one regrets this decision more than we do.”

Town Manager Diane Miller says she is “looking into having the contractor to cut small enough pieces for folks to keep as remembrance if they so desire when they take it down.”

The Lou Mac willow oak which in the past week took on a sign of protest over its planned cutting, tentatively set for February 10. The sign is about halfway up the 10-foot swath of decay that is necessitating the tree’s removal.

Posted Tuesday January 26, 2016 by Melinda Penkava