400 Year Old Bur Oak

[Steve B]

Greetings everyone, my 1st post, and I have have a question.
We have a 400 year old Bur Oak in our county that has been a staple of the community for, well, forever.
It used to have company, but they died off many years ago.
There is a road running withing a few feet of it. It used to be a small dirt road. Then gravel. Now, paved.
A concern is this road is well within the drip ring - we're contemplating trying to have the road moved away, see the attachment.
Does anyone feel this may help the tree, as it is looking a little worse for wear lately.
This year the leaves are noticeably darker and flatter in color than anything else in the area. And it's just not looking well, if we can help save it, well, there are plenty out there that want too.
I can post more pictures if needed.
Please advise, and thanks in advance

 

[buzz sawyer]

Beautiful tree, I see why you all want to save it.
How long ago was it paved? Was any excavation done in the process of paving? Roots removed? I'm far from an expert in this but these questions may help get an answer.
How about a shot from the side showing just how close the road is?

 

[ATH]

few thoughts:
1) The road has currently damaged soil on the west side of the road. I assume that is an ag field on the east? It has very happy roots on the east side. That proposal will impact the soil where it does have good roots. If the road is going to be re-routed, you would be better off going further to north and west.
2) What herbicides are being used on the ag fields? 2, 4-d and Dicamba are not good for trees... If you are going to take some of the farmer's ground, perhaps take some surrounding the tree and mulch that to improve the rooting zone.
3) What is the 400 year old guess based on? I doubt it...that tree didn't grow up in the woods - it spent much of its life growing in the open after the land was cleared. That doesn't mean it is not old and beautiful...just that I doubt the 400 years. But it certainly could be...for example: could have been 12-16" diameter and 150 years old, the they cleared around it and the lower branches developed.

 

[Steve B]

few thoughts:
1) The road has currently damaged soil on the west side of the road. I assume that is an ag field on the east? It has very happy roots on the east side. That proposal will impact the soil where it does have good roots. If the road is going to be re-routed, you would be better off going further to north and west.
2) What herbicides are being used on the ag fields? 2, 4-d and Dicamba are not good for trees... If you are going to take some of the farmer's ground, perhaps take some surrounding the tree and mulch that to improve the rooting zone.
3) What is the 400 year old guess based on? I doubt it...that tree didn't grow up in the woods - it spent much of its life growing in the open after the land was cleared. That doesn't mean it is not old and beautiful...just that I doubt the 400 years. But it certainly could be...for example: could have been 12-16" diameter and 150 years old, the they cleared around it and the lower branches developed.

I guessed a little high on the age, looks like about 350 years or so.

"Missouri's largest bur oak tree is about a mile away from McBaine in Boone County.
According to the National Register of Big Trees, which last measured the tree in 2006, the bur oak is 90 feet high, has a 130-foot spread and a circumference of 287 inches.
In the 1950s, the MU Forestry Club took a core sample from the tree. This is done to help determine a tree's age without cutting it down by counting the number of rings. The sample showed the tree was about 300 years old, making it about 350 years old now."

See below for some pictures of the base - there is more erosion/exposed root than I can ever remember.

Yes, it's been agricultural with the same landholders for 6 generations, they care about the tree and seem open to suggestions.

Thank you so much for the replies

 

[Steve B]

Beautiful tree, I see why you all want to save it.
How long ago was it paved? Was any excavation done in the process of paving? Roots removed? I'm far from an expert in this but these questions may help get an answer.
How about a shot from the side showing just how close the road is?

Very recent, vandals hit it....

And for ATH -

 

[ATH]

I stand corrected on the age...probably very slow growing when it was young. Of course, maybe Columbia wasn't as forested and it was open grown before settlement? Also would be curious if their core went all the way to the center or if it was a partial core and they estimated. Like I said...either way it is old and beautiful. But most trees that were big before settlement have a much taller log.

even if that road could be moved a little - like 10-15' to the west that would make a huge difference (keep southbound lane, but make it northbound, then put a new southbound lane to the west.

Big thing I forgot to mention: it is tough to get highway people to think outside of heavy equipment and lots of digging. If care is not taken when the existing road is removed, they could easily do more damage than good.

Finally, it looks like the soil all around it is compacted. Air excavation/radial trenching all around the tree would be helpful.

 

[under_the_hill]

Very recent, vandals hit it....

And for ATH -

Vandalizing an old tree, infuriating.

 

[Steve B]

I stand corrected on the age...probably very slow growing when it was young. Of course, maybe Columbia wasn't as forested and it was open grown before settlement? Also would be curious if their core went all the way to the center or if it was a partial core and they estimated. Like I said...either way it is old and beautiful. But most trees that were big before settlement have a much taller log.

even if that road could be moved a little - like 10-15' to the west that would make a huge difference (keep southbound lane, but make it northbound, then put a new southbound lane to the west.

Big thing I forgot to mention: it is tough to get highway people to think outside of heavy equipment and lots of digging. If care is not taken when the existing road is removed, they could easily do more damage than good.

Finally, it looks like the soil all around it is compacted. Air excavation/radial trenching all around the tree would be helpful.

Thank you so much for the information - it's a single road with traffic in both directions. Once rarely used, not it is quite popular.

See below - something like the route in the right picture?

Also, the local University and some others pruned it many years ago, it used to appear much larger.....

Google brings a wealth of history on the tree - even as far away as the left coast!

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-oct-31-la-na-hometown-mcbaine-20101031-story.html

 

[buzz sawyer]

I like the last option but as already said, keep the heavy equip. away - work from the northwest side of the road. Mulch could be spread anytime.

 

[ATH]

....
See below - something like the route in the right picture?
...

Yes...that is what I was thinking. It seems to be a less drastic move of the road, less loss of the private property, and less impact to the tree's roots - especially since that won't compact currently (relatively) undisturbed roots.

I'd make sure there are guard rails on either side of those curves going into the new bend. Under the current configuration if somebody is flying down the road and misses the turn the go off into the field. On either of the proposals, if they are trucking along and miss the start of the turn they are headed straight for the tree. Real bad day for them. Not good for the tree.

 

[Steve B]

The tree was hit by lightning and actually caught fire for a bit.
Details here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/477961809700230