A reader contacted me recently about her very old ( and very beautiful ) American elm tree . The tree diagram , she noted , had a circumference of 17 feet and was believed by some in the neighbourhood to be about 240 years old . Would I care to take pictures of it ? You bet !
The homeowner told me she was have the tree appraise by an tree surgeon because the house was being sold and the new owners thought they might demand to take away the tree diagram because of its age . I met certified tree surgeon Keith Curtis ofShadywood Tree Experts and Landscapingat the property , just after he had analyzed the tree diagram .
The good news show : The Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree seems to be in adept health , though it has the marks and scars of any live thing that has been on the Earth a long time . It ’s age , however , is a number of a mystery , and it provides an interesting insight into tree and how they grow and age .
That’s a tall tree!
Keith valuate the tree diagram ’s diameter 4 1/2 foot from the priming coat , the so called diameter at breast height ( DBH ) , which is the external standard for measuring a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ’s diameter and count on age . At that top , the elmwood had a diameter of 66 inches . If you figure a growth rate of one - one-half inch per year , the tree would then be in the 130 - year - previous chain of mountains , so it could have been plant in the 1880s . The location of the tree diagram just in the backyard gave Keith the impression that it also could have been planted when the house was build , which thanks to thisterrific information baseof construction permit at theHennepin County Library , I chance upon was in 1923 or 1924 . So , that would make it less than 100 old age former .
But , as Keith state me , this is one BIG Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . He state he often gets told by householder that they have a big tree diagram , but it ’s really not that vainglorious . ( He ’s been looking at trees more than 20 old age , so he knows . ) This one is BIG . ( The photo at the bottom of the post shows it well . ) So , could it be 240 years old ? It could be . It could also be much more than that , he said — like double that much . But other than cutting it down and counting the increase ring there is no fashion to know for sure .
Surviving Dutch Elm
A chair and table at the base of the tree. The trunk is 17 feet around.
The other thing that is interesting about the tree is that it is there at all . In the 1960s , most of theelm tree in the Twin Citieswere ruin byDutch elm tree disease . A few survived , perhaps due to good genetic science and maybe the correct localisation . In the retiring 20 years , many surviving elms have been handle to prevent the disease , Keith noted . The house next room access to the big elm also has a large , old elm — about half or less the sizing of this one — but still very self-aggrandising . So maybe they were just in the right touch .
That ’s all beyond my wage grade , but whatever its eld , you ca n’t help but wonder what change in weather condition and environment and surroundings this tree has endured . It ’s a repository to the resiliency of plants .
