With chainsaw's whir, a neighborhood's hopes fall
(Globe photo/Zara Tzanev)
The remains of a four-story willow tree in Somerville.
By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff, and Danielle Dreilinger, Globe Correspondent
SOMERVILLE – They serenaded the big willow with a harp and a high school choir. They offered to pay $1,500 for its upkeep. They held handmade signs that read “Tree Butcher” and “Save Our Tree." They even went to court today, seeking a last-minute restraining order to prevent it from being chopped down.
But their efforts came crashing down today in a blast of sawdust and woodchips.
A work crew, guarded by three police officers and a police cruiser with flashings lights, converged upon the four-story willow with a crane and chainsaw, bringing it down piece by piece to its raw, pale stump. Neighbors, who had mounted an aggressive campaign to save the tree, stood morosely in a driving rain, watching as the crew lowered segments of the trunk onto the sidewalk like surgeons severing the leg of a grey colossus.
“There’s an enormous sense of sadness and loss,” said Kerri Lorigan, who, with her husband, Greg Nadeau, was instrumental in organizing the campaign to save the tree on the corner of Thorndike and Howard streets. "We live in the city, and we just want a little bit of balance and want to preserve, wherever it is, such a particular beauty.”
Joe Benoit, who owns the property where the willow grew, said he had no choice but to fell the tree. After the tree began dropping huge branches several years ago, damaging electrical wires, cars, and fences, he consulted an arborist, who determined that the tree could fall and should never have been planted so close to Benoit's three-decker.
“It was a dangerous situation, and I was concerned about the safety of my tenants and other people,” Benoit said. “That’s the bottom line of that, or I would not have taken it down.”
Somerville, home to 40,000 to 50,000 trees and many environmentally sensitive residents, is no stranger to such battles. Residents recently rose up in opposition when the city tried to take down a 25-year-old oak near Tufts University, Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz said. On Craigie Street, neighbors concerned about a development raised hackles about possible damage to a century-old elm.
But the willow on Thorndike Street was the protoganist in a far more epic struggle. Estimated to be between 40 to 100 years old, the tree's thick, green canopy provided shade for neighbors, absorbed the roar of passing cars, and added a touch of grace to the neighborhood. “I heard probably a dozen people say to me: ‘That’s the most that the most beautiful tree in Somerville,'" Nadeau said.
Benoit did not disagree. He said he had “loved and cared” for the willow for more than 20 years.
When the tree began dropping branches, he tried pruning it “but that only made matters worse,” he said, by spurring the willow to sprout heavier, more unstable branches. Eventually, he consulted an arborist, who said willows are by nature weak and prone to cracking during storms. The arborist recommended taking the tree down and planting a young linden, oak or hickory.
But neighbors were not willing to let it die.
When Benoit first tried to remove the tree Nov. 12, neighbors “literally stood under the tree and stopped it from being cut down,” Nadeau said. A week later, Deborah Henson-Conant, a harpist, serenaded the tree with the Arlington High School choir. Naduea hired an arborist who determined the tree had a “good structure," and printed leaflets that declared: "This tree does not need to come down."
“It’s a neighborhood icon,” said Ellie Botshon, 39.
When word spread today that the work crew had come a second time to chop down the tree, two neighbors raced to Middlesex Superior Court to seek a restraining order to save it. Benoit hurried there, too, to argue his case. During a brief hearing, Judge Joseph Walker "certainly heard the various arguments, and agreed to let the tree come down,” Benoit said.
“I hope that people will go on, and will find other good things that we can be happy about it,” he said. For one thing, he said, he plans to plant a new tree in the yard.
And so, the willow was felled. Afterward, Nadeau, in his living room, looked through photos of the tree in its verdant splendor a few weeks ago. Lorigan said the neighborhood would never be the same.
“It was – and I need to speak in the past tense -- an enormously beautiful tree,” Lorigan said. “It was the simple visual and audible pleasure of walking by the tree, hearing it and seeing it. It was such a rare sight.”
Comment
Permalink
Email
Count the growth rings on the stump. You will find out how old the treee is and perhaps be able to admit that the triple decker was not there when the tree began growing. The building was erected whin the tree was already there!
Take the suggestion of the arborists and plant some trees now so that in the future there will be trees to enjoy and find shade under.
Humans are the species that are in charge. Trees grow so big that they can do damage. Itis our choice to plant a new generation of trees for the future to enjoy..Waste no time!
I walked by that tree all of the time on my way to Davis. It will be missed.
It is sad- hopefully Joe will donate the wood to a Somerville artist willing to make something beautiful from it.
I'm sure the protesters would have sued immediately if they were injured, or their car was damaged, by this tree.
Hey Deborah Henson-Conant: take your harp and shove it where the tree doesn't shade. If the people in the house lose their power on a February night because of that tree, where will the nutters be? Here's a clue - trees die and trees grow. This is the worst kind of cause-hunting. Apparently poor children don't matter any more - trees are the new black (people). They don't spend their food stamps on drugs, and they don't carjack nice white people like us.
TIMBER!!!!!
Seems like the "arborist" may need some more education ... even patients with medical problems seek second opinions
We will miss you "Belinda". Many thanks to Deborah for letting her live forever in my favorite song.
Felling giant, sick and or aging trees is part of life (we just had to cut down three at our home in Wayland). But take heart, the citizens of Macedonia planted 70,000 trees in a single day during late November. As one ancient Native American saying goes, "When is the best time to plant a tree?
Ten years ago.
When is the second best time to plant a tree? Today."
interestingly, from the picture of the trunks, the tree looks pretty healthy. but then again, the home owner does have the rights to plant and in this case, to remove a plant from his/her own property.
Though it is sad and I hate to see any healthy tree be taken down, the yard and house in the picture is what really seems to need help.
"[Benoit] consulted an arborist, who determined that the tree ... should never have been planted so close to Benoit's three-decker"
If closeness to triple-deckers is the measure for removing a perfectly health tree then there should be exactly zero trees in Somerville. With the tree gone maybe that landlord will be able to pave parking for three more automobile spaces! That chain link fence is a real gem. I'd take the fence over the tree too! (sarcasm). With luck, and a few more like-minded landlords, hopefully Somerville will continue its tranformation to moonscape. How much you want to bet the landlord doesn't live in the building? I love this city.
Why don't these people put their resources and passions toward something they might actually help? The Somerville police department had 3 officers there for something that should have been a normal falling of a tree. However, these people who don't respect people's rights to do what they need to do on their property, took those officers off the streets. If the land owner had to pay for these officers, that is even worse. He gave many reasons as to why a TREE should be taken down on his own property. He was nice enough to do that! The day after thanksgiving, these people could be doing much better things with their time than worrying about a tree! Why not give all this time you have to the Somerville Homeless Coalition? Also, this is why the Boston Globe is losing readership. You are reporting on a tree in someone's yard that he decided should come down. There are much better places to use your resources!
How sad that, of all the worthwhile causes in the world, including the fights against poverty, hunger, destruction of wildlife and genocide, the people of Somerville devote thier energies to saving a single tree. Since the tree was on Benoit's property, it was his decision to cut it down, end of story. People need to get a sense of perspective.
you people need to get a life
I know it's sad they had to cut down such a big and probably beautiful tree, but the owner of the property did what he felt was best to protect his tenants and investments. And I've got to ask why people would print up paper leaflets to protest the cutting down of a tree. Hopefully they used recycled paper, it would be kinda defeating the purpose of saving one but using others to tout the cause.
I love trees too, but that was a very old tree, and beginning to become dangerous. Willow is soft wood with a very weak root structure. Let's not let emotion rule reason. Please don't leave that awful stump there - and maybe you could plant several young trees in the spring as a hopeful sign for the future.
Wow, "tree butcher". That is funny! Don't worry about the trees. I heard a rumor....they grow back. Put your effort into helping people.
I though all of the tree huggers lived in Cambridge?
I suppose Nadeau would have a different view of this situation if one of the limbs had crushed his 1983 Volvo with Channel 2 bumper sticker. As a neighbor, he would best serve the city by offering to help plant new trees rather than let his narrow and sentimental holier-than-thou approach waste the time of a man who I strongly doubt is inventing reasons to spend his money on tree removal.
plant another!
Here today,,,,,,,Gone Tomorrow
I am going to go into all you tree huggers yards dig them up and put in a swimming pool, a shed, and a roller coaster! What... you have a problem with that? Why... I live in the neighborhood and want your yard to have a pool, and your neighbor to the right to have a basketball court. You mean I have no right to be concerned with what someone else does with their property. CORRECT. If you really wanted to save the tree you could buy the house and property and do with it as you please. Otherwize BUTT THE HELL OUT!
I love trees. However, think that pretty much people are allowed to cut down trees that they own, on their property. From the photograph it does not appear that the treee abutted a parking lot, so I am not sure that there is any basiss for the allegation that the owenr wanted more parking spaces (which are subject to zoning compliance anyway).
I wonder what the protesters would say if they were ordered to conduct their affairs or maintain their property to satisfy the aesthetic judgments of their neighbors. For example, maybe Deborah Henson-Conant's neighbors appreciate Angus Young's music more than, say, that of Loreena McKennitt, and decide that Deborah should only be allowed to play AC/DC covers. After all, they walk right by there every day and would really like to hear "Whole Lotta Rosie" instead of some crappy harp music. Or are my fellow tree-lovers endowed with some superior moral or intellectual power that entitles them to tell the great unwashed what to do? Not a very attractive image.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
Globe Metro on Twitter
INside Boston.com
LOCAL BLOGS
Universal Hub
The Chinatown Blog
CommonWealth Magazine
Hub Blog
Blue Mass Group
H20town
Boston 1775
The Berkeley Beacon
The Daily Free Press
The Harvard Crimson
The Heights
The Huntington News
The Suffolk Journal
The Tufts Daily