Weeping for the willow
Somerville neighbors lose fight to keep tree from being cut down
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 yesterday, seeking a last-minute restraining order to prevent it from being cut down.
But their efforts came crashing down yesterday 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.
"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 try 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 in opposition when the city tried to take down a 25-year-old oak near Tufts, 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 was the protagonist in a far more epic struggle. Estimated to be between 40 and 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 beautiful tree in Somerville,' " Nadeau said.
Benoit did not disagree. He had loved and cared for the willow for more than 20 years.
After 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 prone to cracking during storms. The arborist recommended taking the tree down and planting a young linden, oak, or hickory. Neighbors were unwilling to let it die.
When Benoit first tried to remove the tree Nov. 12, neighbors "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. Nadeau also hired an arborist who determined that the tree had a good structure, and distributed leaflets that declared: "This tree does not need to come down."
"It's a neighborhood icon," said Ellie Botshon, 39.
When word spread yesterday that the work crew had come a second time to remove 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 hearing, Judge Joseph Walker "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," he said. For one thing, Benoit plans to plant a new tree in the yard.
After the willow was felled, Nadeau looked through photos of the tree from 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."
Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com. 