An Old ash tree had run its course, time to call it quits and it came down in style. A photo essay.
This tree was probably over 100 years old they say!
Good Morning Norwich and the Upper Valley,
I hope you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday.
In this short story/photo essay you will see the work effort that went into taking down a rather large tree on Church street. Pioneer Forestry brought in all the right equipment to get the job done right. I watched the tree being taking down piece by piece and took some photos for this story. A few photos were also taken by Marcia Biggs the owner of the tree and sent to me. As I watched the tree being removed, I wondered just how big it was and how old. The cover photo does not provide that answer as the rotted stump does not give any clues. I reached out to Ames Bryd who gave me a website and contact person who could possibly help with this information. I contacted Gwen Kozlowski and here is some information from her update to my email:
Hello,
Thanks for your interest in big trees! Ames and I visited that ash tree earlier this summer. That internal decay is something else!
It is rather difficult to determine age without counting rings. There is a formula to estimate or approximate the age, but it is just a very rough estimate. Below is a link with more information too.
Formula:
Tree circumference at 4.5 feet off the ground, divided by pi (3.14) for tree diameter.
Then multiply the diameter by the “growth factor”. For ash, the growth factor is 4.
https://treescharlotte.org/tree-education/tree-age-equation/
Hope that helps!
Gwen
GWEN KOZLOWSKI | Outreach & Education Coordinator (she/her)
VT Urban & Community Forestry Program
UVM Extension
802-656-7638│ www.vtcommunityforestry.org
The info below is from her article that I researched and the Vermont big tree link is a great way to find where the big trees of Vermont are located.
https://vtcommunityforestry.org/projects/vermont-big-tree-program
The biggest tree in the state is an eastern cottonwood in Colchester. Other top contenders are a silver maple (Brattleboro), sugar maple (Westminster) and northern red oak (Shaftsbury).
Vermont has three national champions: sweet crabapple (Randolph), sweet birch (Chester) and roundleaf shadbush (Clarendon). To learn about these trees and view the list of more than 500 national champions, check out the American Forests' database at www.americanforests.org/champion-trees.
And now back to the photo essay:
This old ash tree did its job well by providing some beauty, nice shade, sweetening the soil, and serving as a temporary residence for some birds, squirrels etc. The old ash had run it’s course and time has taken its toll on it.
This decay proves that it was an ‘inside’ job
Looks like this is the right stuff to get the job done. Reach for the sky big guy!
One piece at a time taken down with safety in mind and a crane and spotter just in case.
Waiting for the right moment to haul it away safely
And this little guy can haul quite a big load!
Working its way back to earth
Quite a load , I would say!
And just one more tree to remove and the job is done.
These photos were sent in by Marcia and each tells it’s story as well.
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