Towering oak at Morris Arboretum comes down after 96 years

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The sun shined through the sawdust as heavy branches were carefully removed from a 96-year-old bur oak tree at Morris Arboretum.

"It's always tough losing a tree this large," said Andrew Conboy, an urban forestry fellow at Morris Arboretum, who is part of the team of arborists taking down the oak.

"Oak trees are usually very long-lived. So this is on the shorter side of its life span potential," said Conboy. "A tree like this could live up to 2 or 300 years in optimal conditions."

The tree was planted in September 1926, the same year Queen Elizabeth II was born.

Likely only a few feet when it went in the ground, it grew to an estimated 75 feet tall.

"Probably had a wider spread than it was tall," Conboy said.

At the time the tree was planted, Calvin Coolidge was president, a loaf of bread cost 9 cents, and milk cost 14 cents a quart.

"In 1926, prohibition was still in effect so that gives you an idea of the time period that this tree was planted," Conboy said.

The National Association of Gardeners planted the oak in commemoration of their visit to what was then called 'Compton', the summer home of siblings John and Lydia Morris.

But in recent years, arborists noticed the branches were dying back at the tips.

"We used a drill to drill into the tree, and it measures how much sound wood is remaining- it essentially measures how hollow the trunk is, and we found it had only 6 or 7 inches of solid wood remaining, the rest of the trunk was hollow," Conboy explained.

A fungal disease had penetrated the roots and the base.

With no known treatment and compromised structural integrity, the towering tree near the parking lot and walking path would have to come down.

The arborists are chipping as much as they can and will use the wood chips around the arboretum.

Another oak tree from the arboretum's nursery will be planted in the same spot when the stump is removed.