​Tree Talk

Perhaps one of the most beloved features of our campus is our magnificent oak tree towering over our courtyard.While it was due for standard maintenance, we hoped to seek multiple opinions from arborists regarding not only its general health, but of the stability of its extraordinarily huge branch which extends horizontally across the courtyard.

Three licensed arborists inspected the tree and provided proposals for work.One suggested we contact Merlin Schlumberger, a Certified Master Arborist and Qualified Tree Risk Assessor.He teaches at the JC, and some consider him “the arborists’ arborist” … the one to turn to for help.

After consulting with us, Merlin offered a proposal for his company to do the work.From the four proposals in hand, we chose Merlin Arborist Group.The work was completed Friday June 16.

Here is what we learned from Merlin:

• Our tree is by far the largest urban Coastal Live Oak he’s seen (the big oaks on the JC campus are Valley Oaks).
• The giant horizontal branch is structurally sound, and simply required weight reduction.
• After some careful pruning, the lightened branch bounced back up by many inches.
• Most visibly notable, they raised the tree canopy across the northern side, facing Cherry Street.The many branches hanging low over the music room were removed, opening up a beautiful view of the tree from Cherry St.
• Merlin chose to leave a noticeably ugly remnant from a badly cut branch long ago.Some modest growth on it shows life remains and cutting it back for appearances would only bring disease closer to the trunk.So if you wonder “why didn’t they get rid of that?” … you now know.
• As we celebrate our 150th Anniversary, our heritage oak is the most prominent legacy of the land predating our church sanctuary.Though any ancient tree will inevitably fail, with ongoing care, we plan to enjoy it for decades to come.