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The oddly cut tree on Boston Common

By adamg on Mon, 08/14/2017 - 10:19pm

Erin Larson asks:

Any insight into the odd tree in the Boston Common? I don't recall seeing it last week...

Neighborhoods: 
Beacon Hill
Downtown
Boston Common
Dutch Elm Disease
Trees


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Comments

By adamg on Mon, 08/14/2017 - 10:21pm.

By lbb on Tue, 08/15/2017 - 9:00am.

It's a damn shame to lose that tree, but hopefully it will help others.

By anon on Tue, 08/15/2017 - 9:12am.

Could save others, but not himself.

By ElizaLeila on Tue, 08/15/2017 - 2:32pm.

you know, the book ...

By mplo on Tue, 08/15/2017 - 10:12am.

That'll kill the tree. Maybe it's in bloom, with leaves now, but it probably won't bloom next year.

By Bob Leponge on Tue, 08/15/2017 - 11:20am.

Yes, the Friends of the Public Garden and their horticulturalists actually know what they're doing.

Once a tree is too far gone with Dutch Elm disease to save, it can be used as a sacrificial lure to draw the beetles that spread the disease away from other, healthier tries.

By ElizaLeila on Tue, 08/15/2017 - 11:25am.

going to say the same, but then I checked the timing on the comments. mplo's was before Adam's (10:12 vs 10:21), even though it was presented as the opposite.

Nevermind - I should read the date, too.

You are correct. :)

By SomerVillain on Tue, 08/15/2017 - 10:34am.

I learned that from TV!

By mplo on Tue, 08/15/2017 - 12:02pm.

This:

"Cut off the bar and the tree could die."

is exactly what I was pointing out here.

By ElizaLeila on Tue, 08/15/2017 - 2:34pm.

Now that you know it's got terminal Dutch Elm disease, how do you feel about it being sacrificial to save other trees?

By Bob Leponge on Wed, 08/16/2017 - 11:29am.

I was eagerly awaiting the doubling-down, but it doesn't seem to have transpired.

By anon on Wed, 08/16/2017 - 1:59pm.

I can find nothing online that says this will work. In fact, the USDA says:

" In urban settings, rapid removal of Dutch
elm disease-infected American elms followed by destruction of the host
material is the key to successfully managing these two species.

All this is doing is to create happy homes for the pests causing the problem, so that they can reproduce and spread. Just a guess: they don't want to spray for fear of the nutters, so they're doing 'something.'