Maple takes flight, lands at BPA
Published 7:00 am Wednesday, September 25, 2002
Fall color descended abruptly on the BPA grounds Saturday.
A lush Japanese maple in full autumn display was transplanted on the front lawn, spared the looming ax of development on a parcel around the corner.
“I think it was a unifying issue for tree-savers,” said Ericksen Avenue attorney Bob Conoley, who had lobbied for the tree’s preservation. “Is that a word, ‘tree-savers’?”
The relocation came after weeks of discussion between city officials, arborists, and principals for the “Winslow” development on the old Doogals site at Ericksen and Winslow Way. The tree would have been lost to sidewalk work around the mixed-use project, which was slated to break ground this week.
Besides Conoley, the cause found champions in Bainbridge City Councilwoman Debbie Vancil, and various employees of the Streamliner Diner across the street.
The council agreed to forgive $14,000 in development fees to see the sizeable specimen, said to be popular with diner patrons and passersby, moved.
Sites at Waterfront Park and city hall were rejected, with arborists finally settling on the Playhouse grounds.
Commissioned for the move was a family-owned Cleveland, Ohio outfit called Busy Bee Services (Motto: “Give Us a Buzz”), which specializes in tree root care.
Bainbridge plant pathologist Olaf Ribeiro, who has often consulted with the city on downtown tree issues, was familiar with the company after meeting principals at a Seattle arborist convention.
The company has moved more than 300 trees over the past 18 months, most of them in the Ohio area. The tallest has been a 42-foot ash, said to be thriving still in its new environs.
“Part of the challenge was, very frankly, finding people who knew how to do it,” said Bror Elmquist, project manager for the Winslow development.
A four-person Busy Bee crew, including owner and certified arborist Mark Hoenigman, flew in last week and spent Friday using a high-pressure “air knife” to blast away the the soil around the maple’s roots. The technique is said to be cutting-edge for large-tree relocation – much more precise than the conventional “tree spade,” a piece of heavy equipment that more or less rips a tree from the earth.
“I’ve been using the term ‘pioneer,’” Busy Bee’s Alan Siegert said between blasts with the instrument, “because it sounds good.”
The work revealed more than the roots themselves – one chunk of buried concrete was found to be so firmly entwined that it was picked up and moved along with the tree.
“There’s a lot of unknowns in this kind of project,” Siegert said.
Saturday afternoon, various passersby assembled to see the maple lifted off the ground by machinery, and transported up Ericksen to the BPA grounds.
Thereafter commenced the inevitable disagreement over which side should face out.
“This is worse than Christmas,” one observer mused.
Hoenigman cited the tree’s prospects for survival as “very good,” provided it receives proper watering and maintenance. That includes mulching to keep grass away from the base.
“Grass doesn’t belong under trees,” he said. “You go into the woods, it’s not there.”
