Ghirardi Oak Centurion Faces League City Demolition

UPDATE

A little over a year has passed since the tree was moved. In that time, much has happened in the world and locally for the tree.

Stories and articles are still appearing in various places on the web, the video linked in my prior post still reeives about 1000 views a month and shows little signs of slowing down.

Some excerpts from recent articles:

When League City officials were faced with the dilemma of having to cut down the tree to make way for a road-widening project along Louisiana Avenue, they had no idea that their efforts to preserve a bit of the city's history would capture worldwide attention.

"We've had so many people call from all over the world," said Kristi Wyatt, the city's director of communications. She said the city has had contact with almost 115,000 people from 149 countries who were intrigued with the replanting of the Ghirardi Compton Oak. The tree has also been featured in the "Smithsonian Magazine," Martha Stewart's "Living" magazine and on PBS.

League City's resuced oak on world stage

I would like to point out that it was not the efforts of the city council, but rather the concerted efforts of numerous individual residents of League City, and also in part due to the attention I was able to help generate and sustain. There were email and letter writing campaigns, numerous city council meetings at which myself and others stood up to speak on behalf of the tree and the history that it represented,.

That being said, the city is now wasting no time in taking credit for something that many were reluctant to do.

If you look at the response the city has seen from this, well over one hundred thousand people from all across the world have contacted the city wanting to know how the tree is doing, it becomes quite apparent that a great many people from an incredibly wide background have expressed interest in this project.

This tells me that this speaks to people in a deep an personal way.

From the Smithsonian:

But ten months after relocation, how is the tree doing? Often tree location projects fail, when the tree doesn’t take root in its new soil. As far as one local blogger can tell, however, the Ghirardi Oak isn’t planning on croaking any time soon. He writes:

Checked with the city arborist and those keeping an eye on the old tree.

The experts say it’s setting in well.

Getting plenty of rain water (irrigation system used as needed) and nutritious snacks.

The spring leaves are expected soon.

It’s doing OK according to them.

Honestly, the oak tree looks little rough – not just the bark. (But who doesn’t after the holidays?)

It’s Crazy to Move a Hundred-Year-Old Tree, But This One Is Thriving

The owner of the company which moved the tree, Erik Hess, posts regular updates and answers questions osed by locals who are concerned at the Friends of the Ghirardi Compton Oak Facebook group:

James Hollis
I rode my bike by the tree today to check on her and the progress at the new park. I am no expert by any means and don't want to be negative but I didn't think it looked great especially when I rode by in the spring and it was really looking excellent with all the new growth. There were some dead limbs with brown leaves and the canopy was not real thick compared to the surrounding Oak Trees and the 4 in my yard. Is it still being irrigated? How about an update from Hess? Thanks.

Thanks for the post- Trees is being irrigated daily and we will be on site Thursday in the morning to review. It's typical this time of year with temps in the upper 90's when trees show signs of stress especially a transplanted tree. Those you see with full foliage you mentioned have not been transplanted so they have an entire root system active, we are still generating fibrous root structure and once that's fully established to support a heavy canopy; the tree will only produce foliage it can support. In regards to dead limbs we will have to look at them as they may have been those we were watching to see if we had active growth before we removed and structure without being 100% positive they were dead.
I will tell you to look at for new growth once temperatures subside to temps between 75-85 degrees consistently. That's when the trees buds will start to form and soon following open with new leaves. As long as we stay hot we will remain in a transpiration period where water passed through the root structure up to the canopy and out, which is good. I will update everyone again Thursday!

The park is well underway and the target completion date is for some time in October.

Update

Well, a little over two years since the tree had been moved and now the park is coming into it's own. There are now articles appearing about the educational uses for which the park was envisioned:

Charriss York works for the AgriLife Extension Service and Texas Sea Grant, two Texas A&M programs focusing on water conservation research.

She took me through the Ghirardi WaterSmart Park in the heart of a League City subdivision. She pointed out one difference to other parks or gardens: The flowerbeds here aren’t raised but lowered, which helps to improve water quality.

...

Another feature of the park is the metal tank that catches rain water from the roof of a pavilion. That water is then used to irrigate the plants.

“That reduces the need to use city water for things like that,” York said. “And there’s also been studies that show rain water is actually better for plants because of all the micro-nutrients and such that are in there. That helps your plants grow better.”

Houston Area Park Waters Itself, Cleans Storm Drain



In addition to the open air classroom (which I got to see in action earlier this year while I was visiting the park, a bus load of kids pulled up and teachers conducted several practical applications of water conservation), the park also has traditional playground equipment, which was partially installed by citizen volunteers in a community-build project designed to help keep taxpayer cost down.



From another article:

“The TCEQ grant for Ghirardi WaterSmart Park gives the city and other area entities the opportunity to study, showcase and improve water management,” said League City Mayor Tim Paulissen. “Water is one of our most valuable resources, and we are very excited about the opportunity to learn new and better ways to utilize and conserve that resource.” 

In addition to the pavilion, walking trails and playground found in a typical public park, Ghirardi WaterSmart Park has several special features that highlight water issues, including a cistern that collects rainwater and feeds into a drip irrigation system. 

New League City Park Demonstrates Ways to be ‘WaterSmart’

I was standing right next to the mayor when he said the above-quoted words at the park dedication ceremony (Facebook link), and I'll tell you that I do believe he was earnest in his sentiment.

Here are some nice photos and a few of the classes that are being offered.

I will close with a few personal pictures:


Panorama of the park


A purple iris, one of my grandmother's favorites.


And of course the tree. There has been quite a bit of necessary pruning due to hypoxilin canker, unfortunately. As the root system becomes more established, the canopy will become more lush and full.

With all of the craziness on the boards, I thought I would take a bit of a time out from the general clamor and change the pace a bit with an upate of the Ghirardi Compton Oak

Well, a little more than four years have passed since the tree was moved and it is doing very well.

The video of the move:



I has survived scorching heat, seemingly (at times) interminable rain, and a bout of hypoxilin canker but it has survived and appears to be thriving.

I check on it daily and note with great pleasure that there is fresh new growth throughout the entire canopy and areas that had been affect by the cancker are not spreading. Here are a few recent pics of the tree I took:



That was last winter.



A different angle just a few days ago

There is also The Ghirardi Family WaterSmart Park, which has several features that make it unique:

The Ghirardi Family WaterSmart Park received top honors in the category of “On-the-Ground Projects Over $500,000.” In addition to the pavilion, walking trails and playground often found in a public space, 3.75-acre park has several features that highlight water issues, including rain gardens, a cistern that collects rainwater and feeds into a drip irrigation system, a green roof on the pavilion, and WaterSmart landscapes.

The park is a collaborative effort of the City of League City, Texas Sea Grant’s Texas Coastal Watershed Program, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, the Galveston Bay Estuary Program and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). It was funded by the City of League City’s Park Dedication Fund and a grant from TCEQ.

...

The park also recently received a Park Development Innovations Award from the Texas Recreation & Parks Society, a non-profit educational and professional organization founded to advance the profession of parks, recreation and leisure services in Texas.

It has a very nice open air classroom:



The above tree is the Moonshine Oak, so named from when my grandfather, his brother, and two other Italian immigrant farmers brewed moonshine under said tree during prohibition.

And I will close with a few related links for any who may be interested in finding out more about the park and what knowledge is being acquired in studying the park and its use of water:

Ghirardi WaterSmart Park Facebook page

Houston Area Park Waters Itself, Cleans Storm Drain– Ghirardi WaterSmart Park on KHUF (88.7)

New League City Park Demonstrates Ways to be ‘WaterSmart’– TAMU Times

Ghirardi WaterSmart Park is cooperation between multiple people and agencies– Galveston County Daily News

Ghirardi WaterSmart Park: A League City Gem Page 1. Page 2. Page 3.– Change Magazine

I now return you to your regularly scheduled political madness, of which I will also take part...