Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Mabel Willson's beloved 250-year-old, 75-foot-tall oak tree, which once towered above her garden, had to be cut down this week because of age.

Old oak tree is history

Woman says goodbye to garden centerpiece

By Loretta McCarty

For 45 years, Mabel Willson's 250-year-old oak tree was the focal point of her scenic yard and garden, so when the 93-year-old matriach saw seven men from a tree-cutting service chopping off its majestic limbs last week, she was in shock.

"It just happened so fast that she was devastated," said her neighbor, Laura Rae.

It started about a month ago when her grandson noticed a crack in the tree and called the city to have someone take a look at it.

Bob Rizzo, the city's parks superintendent, said the tree was splitting in half and the damage was so extensive that it was beyond saving. He immediately issued an emergency removal permit.

"The tree was just too old," he said. He added that it was a hazard to the people and property behind her home.

That's when Jim Lewis, owner of the Tree Master, was called in to alleviate the weight from the tree by taking down the branches to prevent it from falling.

Lewis said that there was major decay along the trunk of the tree, the cabling was very old and the brace was broken. There was no way to save it and no way to brace a tree with an 8-foot diameter, he said.

Lewis said that he knew how upset Willson was and that he didn't want to be accused of being a "tree murderer," so to ease her mind he called in Deborah Ellis, a consulting arborist and horticulturist.

Ellis said the oak was cracked to the base on both sides, was a real hazard and needed to come down fairly quickly.

"Trees are important," she said, "but people's safety is more important." If the tree fell, it would do major damage to Willson's landscaping, but obviously the greater concern is if it hit a person, car or building, Ellis said.

The tree is scheduled to be taken down this week, Lewis said. It will take a crew of five men with a crane two to three days to cut down the tree, which has a 23-foot circumference at its base.

Willson said it's very hard for her because she has so many fond memories of the old oak. "We had many family gatherings, weddings and luncheons under this tree," she said, "and it shaded all of my flowers."

But she said she knows that cutting down the tree is the right thing to do and that she's just going to have to come up with a new landscaping scheme for her two-acre estate on Saratoga Avenue. She said she's thinking about a rockery and maybe some redwoods to fill the spot where the old tree once stood.

"It would be a nice memorial to my oak," she said.