Sydney Martinez, Campus Carrier news editor
The pecan tree by Martha Berry’s gravesite was taken down by Brookwood Tree Consulting on Nov. 3 after being monitored for six years due to a cavity in its base. Its removal was a precautionary measure to prevent damage to the surrounding area.
“Because of its location and proximity to Martha Berry’s grave, we felt like we needed to have a plan in place,” Chief of Staff Casee Gilbert said.
Director of the Oak Hill and Martha Berry Museum Rachel McLucas said the tree possibly predates the school, and Berry hopes to date it soon.
“We don’t know until we get the date for the tree whether or not it predates the college chapel,” McLucas said.
There are pictures of Martha Berry’s burial that show the tree already grown before her death.
Berry did not specifically request to be buried in front of the pecan tree, but it was already there when she asked to be buried by the chapel. The gravesite and the tree are separate entities, though over time they have become associated with each other.
Berry worked with Brookwood Tree Consulting, which provides assessments of the condition of trees. They identify and remove hazards and prepare land for new trees in a variety of settings, including college campuses.
“They have been paying attention to this particular tree for about six years because they noticed the evidence of some disease,” McLucas said. “They’ve been watching and unfortunately, within this year, the disease has spread into the trunk of the tree in a significant way.”
As a measure of precaution, the tree had to be removed before it caused damage to the gravesite, the chapel or the Dana parking lot.
“The only option was to really take it down before it came down on its own,” McLucas said. “It was a very hard decision, and a lot of people weighed in heavily and all the avenues were explored.”
Dickey said that a cavity in the tree had hollowed out its center. The tree’s condition was unpleasant to perceive.
“It became pretty obvious as [you observed] the whole side of the tree. All the bark fell off; you could see it was hollowed out,” Jennifer Dickey, Berry’s preservationist, said. “There was rot and fungus.”
Gilbert said Brookwood Tree Company used radar survey technology to determine the location of the roots. This prevented any damage to the gravesite’s surrounding area before removing the tree.
“We wanted to make sure that we understood everything that was happening underground so that we didn’t disrupt anything,” Gilbert said. “We were also determining how far the roots were reaching. That work was done in preparation before they engaged in the removal.”
Gilbert said the removal of the tree was necessary as soon as possible, but it had been delayed until after Mountain Day weekend to prevent any disruption of the memorial service.
“We felt very strongly about not disrupting the area before Mountain Day because there was some programming that was happening for the graveside memorial service they do on the Sunday of Mountain Day,” Gilbert said.
Current students were not notified about the removal of the tree. Instead, Berry shared information with alumni and relevant groups that work closely with the gravesite.
“We share information with certain groups if we think it’s going to impact them,” Gilbert said. “There was no need for a campus announcement in this particular case. So, it was shared in advance with the Daughters of Berry because they maintain the area near Martha [Berry’s] grave.”
Gilbert hoped that by placing a sign by the tree and sending information out to relevant alumni, they would understand why the historic tree had to be taken down.
“I would hope that alumni would recognize that the college would not just take down a tree for no reason, you know, it would have to be pretty significant for them to remove a tree of that age, and especially in that location,” Gilbert said.
In December, the tree will be replaced by a similar pecan tree in its honor, though not a genetic match.
“Several of the specialists that we worked with tried to take cuttings from the pecan tree that had been there, but unfortunately, [they] weren’t successful in propagating it,” McLucas said.
McLucas quoted Martha Berry to explain that the old pecan tree witnessed the growth of the Berry Schools, and the new tree will continue to witness the coming years of the college.
“Martha Berry said, ‘We walk into tomorrow on the lives of our youth,’” McLucas said. “We feel like this new pecan tree being planted is in some ways conserving that. We have to hand off what we do to the next.”