Main Street Park, Weaverville, NC

[bbeduhn]

This is a very small park in the center of town. It's comprised of 5-7 acres with some open grassland. I didn't get a Rucker. Enough species exist but the index would come out in the low 90s. Despite its size, it does hold some surprises. I'd been there several times, admiring a large white oak. I just discovered the second large white oak since the leaves came down. I'd passed near it several times and hadn't noticed its ridiculous number of branches as it is hidden behind undergrowth up on a small incline. The first white oak has a small opening at its base but looks to be sound. The oak of 25 spires looks fantastic from one side but shows a fair amount of rot from the other. It does have a couple of cables securing a several branches. English ivy and a bevy of other invasives surround the tree.

Siberian elm 12' cbh multitrunk

amelm.jpg (128.9 KiB) Viewed 2525 times

redcedars 57.1'

red cedars.jpg (187.15 KiB) Viewed 2525 times

white oak 13'7"

white oak 1.jpg (161.73 KiB) Viewed 2525 times

~14' cbh white oak

white oak 15'8" cbh

white oak 2.jpg (196.92 KiB) Viewed 2525 times

25+ 8" diameter branches

white oak 2a.jpg (118.35 KiB) Viewed 2525 times

[dbhguru]

Brian,

One heck of a white oak. How about a name like the Medusa Oak?

Bob

[bbeduhn]

Bob,
Come to think of it, I did get a bit stoney faced. Medusa suits it just fine.

[mdavie]

I actually worked on both of those trees, and we put the cable in the oak with the old scar. We took out the most dangerous deadwood, but actually left some large dead limbs to keep it natural; we put ropes over any we left and hauled on them to either break loose ends off or make sure they were sturdy enough to leave. Since there was no real trail or traffic beneath, it seemed a better plan than making a bunch of cuts in a big old wolf tree like that.

That's actually a Siberian elm by the parking lot, though. That's a sweet little park, isn't it? They did a ton of invasive plant removal in there, I'm curious if they've kept on it at all...

[bbeduhn]

I know only a handful of invasives. The oak with cables is surrounded by English ivy and many prickly species. I haven't seen Japanese honeysuckle or multiflora rose. You did fine work on the oak. It does look very natural.

If that's a Siberian elm, then my guess is most of the elms I see around Asheville are also Siberian elms. Six Carolina hemlocks surround the parking lot and are in good health. Two hollies are thriving in the middle of the lot. A small pond was put in just below the entrance stairs.

I didn't spend much time on the height of the Medusa oak but roughed it at 85' with a 97' average spread.

[pdbrandt]

Brian,
I love the pictures of the "Medussa Oak". It reminds me of one of my favorite willow oaks in Efland. Here are a few pictures. I have yet to climb up and get a height measurement (I don't have a rangefinder/clinometer), but the average crown spread is 88 feet.

Click on image to see its original size

Click on image to see its original size

Click on image to see its original size

Click on image to see its original size

I'll submit a full writeup with more pics once I have the height measurement.

[bbeduhn]

Patrick,
That's a beast! I look forward to the full stats on it. I'm surprised the spread is "only" 88'. It definitely appears to have some height.
Brian

[dbhguru]

Partick,

Great jumping jehosaphat! That is the largest willow oak I've seen. looking forward to the full spectrum of stats.

Bob

[Will Blozan]

I know only a handful of invasives. The oak with cables is surrounded by English ivy and many prickly species. I haven't seen Japanese honeysuckle or multiflora rose. You did fine work on the oak. It does look very natural.

If that's a Siberian elm, then my guess is most of the elms I see around Asheville are also Siberian elms. Six Carolina hemlocks surround the parking lot and are in good health. Two hollies are thriving in the middle of the lot. A small pond was put in just below the entrance stairs.

I didn't spend much time on the height of the Medusa oak but roughed it at 85' with a 97' average spread.

Brian,

I could almost count the number of mature American elms I know of in AVL on one hand. Red is much more common in natural settings (Town Mtn has lots of them) but Siberian is the most common (unfortunately).

Will

[bbeduhn]

The Medusa Oak is down. The area covered by all of its limbs is impressive. It was pretty much flattened when it fell.