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From today' s Globe and Mail, page 3 of the first section no less....
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060726.TREE26/TPStory/?query=tree
How a historic Quebec tree found support
European system of giant crutches buys time for oak on Papineau estate
TENILLE BONOGUORE
MONTEBELLO, QUE. -- A gnarled red oak personally marked for protection by French-Canadian nationalist Louis-Joseph Papineau in 1848 has become the focus of a massive nursing project imported from Europe.
Parks Canada estimates the tree is between 200 and 300 years old, but that is, admittedly, a guess. So when it became clear the tree was dying, the federal agency did what anyone would do for an aging, ailing and beloved family member: It scoured the world for the best care available.
What it found were tree crutches.
Three massive struts now prop up the oak that stands opposite Papineau's manor house in Montebello, a village about 100 kilometres southwest of Montreal.
Print Edition - Section Front
Section A Front Enlarge Image
The Globe and Mail
Using local larch trees, arborist Daniel Rheault adopted a propping system that has been used in Europe to hold up aging trees.
One 10-metre and two six-metre support trunks have been fixed to the ground with steel plates. At the top of each crutch, a steel clasp holds the main branches securely. The overall effect is imposing and endearing, if a little comical, and tour guides at the site say visitors are giving it their resounding approval.
But in a strange twist, the dying tree will probably outlive everyone involved in the project.
Joanne Béland, an interpreter at the Manoir Papineau National Historic Site, said the 20-metre-tall tree still sheds its leaves for winter and waves fresh green buds each spring despite the fact it has been dying of old age for 30 years.
"It could continue to live for another 100 years," she said while gazing at the massive support system that was erected this month.
When Parks Canada took over the site in 1994, the tree was already hollow and was losing the strength to hold up its branches. That is when the first intervention was made, using steel cables to link the branches.
Then, a couple of years ago, the bark started falling off and the trunk started to split, Ms. Béland said. The tree's custodians knew something more radical was needed or the tree would have to be roped off.
Papineau was a prominent Lower Canada politician who became a defender of French Canadian heritage and helped lead the 1837 rebellions against the British government. Clearing land for the manor in 1848, he protected the oak to give his new home an aura of age and history. Years later he wrote to a friend about round dances at the estate "around the oak when the weather's nice, and in the drawing room when the weather's poor."
About 15,000 people visit the manor each year.
It is the first time tree propping has been used in North America to nurse an old tree, according to Parks Canada, and the system -- which cost about $5,000 -- could become more common as the agency strives to protect the country's living, breathing history.
The oak, whose hollow trunk is home to squirrels, groundhogs and the occasional family of adventurous ducks, is settling into its new support structure and has even perked up since the crutches were installed, Ms. Béland said.
"It's difficult to see because it's such an impressive element in the landscaping architecture. To finally realize that the tree is dying was sad. We're losing something precious."
But, she added, it is better to have a tree with crutches than no tree at all.
"This tree is a silent witness, but a witness nonetheless. As long as it still breathes, Parks Canada will work to preserve it."
Lean on me
Papineau's Oak joins a prestigious few trees around the world that have been "propped," including:
The Major Oak of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England. Legend has it this 800- to 1,000-year-old tree was once a hiding place for Robin Hood. The biggest oak in England -- almost 16 metres tall and 11 metres in circumference-- has been supported by props since the 1980s.
The Chapel Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse in Normandy, France. At least 800 years old and with a girth of 10 metres, it is one of the largest, oldest trees in France. In 1669, Allouville's Abbot Du Détroit and Father Du Cerceau decided to build a chapel in the already vast hollow oak, containing a small altar with an image of the Virgin Mary.
A second chapel was later built in the tree, along with a wooden staircase to both chapels.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060726.TREE26/TPStory/?query=tree
How a historic Quebec tree found support
European system of giant crutches buys time for oak on Papineau estate
TENILLE BONOGUORE
MONTEBELLO, QUE. -- A gnarled red oak personally marked for protection by French-Canadian nationalist Louis-Joseph Papineau in 1848 has become the focus of a massive nursing project imported from Europe.
Parks Canada estimates the tree is between 200 and 300 years old, but that is, admittedly, a guess. So when it became clear the tree was dying, the federal agency did what anyone would do for an aging, ailing and beloved family member: It scoured the world for the best care available.
What it found were tree crutches.
Three massive struts now prop up the oak that stands opposite Papineau's manor house in Montebello, a village about 100 kilometres southwest of Montreal.
Print Edition - Section Front
Section A Front Enlarge Image
The Globe and Mail
Using local larch trees, arborist Daniel Rheault adopted a propping system that has been used in Europe to hold up aging trees.
One 10-metre and two six-metre support trunks have been fixed to the ground with steel plates. At the top of each crutch, a steel clasp holds the main branches securely. The overall effect is imposing and endearing, if a little comical, and tour guides at the site say visitors are giving it their resounding approval.
But in a strange twist, the dying tree will probably outlive everyone involved in the project.
Joanne Béland, an interpreter at the Manoir Papineau National Historic Site, said the 20-metre-tall tree still sheds its leaves for winter and waves fresh green buds each spring despite the fact it has been dying of old age for 30 years.
"It could continue to live for another 100 years," she said while gazing at the massive support system that was erected this month.
When Parks Canada took over the site in 1994, the tree was already hollow and was losing the strength to hold up its branches. That is when the first intervention was made, using steel cables to link the branches.
Then, a couple of years ago, the bark started falling off and the trunk started to split, Ms. Béland said. The tree's custodians knew something more radical was needed or the tree would have to be roped off.
Papineau was a prominent Lower Canada politician who became a defender of French Canadian heritage and helped lead the 1837 rebellions against the British government. Clearing land for the manor in 1848, he protected the oak to give his new home an aura of age and history. Years later he wrote to a friend about round dances at the estate "around the oak when the weather's nice, and in the drawing room when the weather's poor."
About 15,000 people visit the manor each year.
It is the first time tree propping has been used in North America to nurse an old tree, according to Parks Canada, and the system -- which cost about $5,000 -- could become more common as the agency strives to protect the country's living, breathing history.
The oak, whose hollow trunk is home to squirrels, groundhogs and the occasional family of adventurous ducks, is settling into its new support structure and has even perked up since the crutches were installed, Ms. Béland said.
"It's difficult to see because it's such an impressive element in the landscaping architecture. To finally realize that the tree is dying was sad. We're losing something precious."
But, she added, it is better to have a tree with crutches than no tree at all.
"This tree is a silent witness, but a witness nonetheless. As long as it still breathes, Parks Canada will work to preserve it."
Lean on me
Papineau's Oak joins a prestigious few trees around the world that have been "propped," including:
The Major Oak of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, England. Legend has it this 800- to 1,000-year-old tree was once a hiding place for Robin Hood. The biggest oak in England -- almost 16 metres tall and 11 metres in circumference-- has been supported by props since the 1980s.
The Chapel Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse in Normandy, France. At least 800 years old and with a girth of 10 metres, it is one of the largest, oldest trees in France. In 1669, Allouville's Abbot Du Détroit and Father Du Cerceau decided to build a chapel in the already vast hollow oak, containing a small altar with an image of the Virgin Mary.
A second chapel was later built in the tree, along with a wooden staircase to both chapels.
