Bunya bungle?
The bunya bunya is back in the news as local tree lovers worry about an excavation project near the base of the tree
Just when you thought the bunya bunya tree on the eastern edge of the Barlow was safe, a large excavation near the base of the tree has tree lovers in town up in arms.
Workers for the Barlow dug out a large rectangular area about 12 inches deep, relatively close to the trunk of the bunya bunya tree—about 7.5 feet away.
The Barlow isn’t doing anything illegal—they got a demolition permit from the city’s building department.
Barlow owner Barney Aldridge said, “We’re just doing some landscaping there. We’ve been very careful of that tree. I think you’ve just got people nervous about it.”
The word “nervous” understates the reaction. The Sebastopol Times got several calls and emails from local residents, including Tree Board/Design Board member Lynn Deedler and arborist Julian Thorn.
“The rule of thumb is that 50% of a tree’s roots are in the first foot of soil, 70% are in the first two feet, and then 90% of the tree’s roots are in the first three feet of soil,” Thorn said. “There are big roots that are important for anchoring and supporting the tree and storing the sugars that the tree has made. But to me, the most important roots are all are the super fine root hairs—and a lot of them are microscopic—and those are all in the upper layer of soil. So to do a disturbance of that magnitude, to me, is unconscionable. I would be very surprised if this tree doesn’t start to rapidly decline over the next decade or so.”
In response to the outcry, the city sent its arborist Becky Duckles to take a look. After examining the site, she wasn’t concerned.
“I’m happy to tell you that I really don't think there’s going to be any significant impact on that tree from the work that was done,” she said. “I looked really closely at the roots—and I've got 30 years’ experience looking at construction sites and trees—and I think it's really going to be in good shape.”
It is unclear as of yet what’s going to be built in this space—some sort of patio eating area is the thought—but Deedler said the Barlow will have to bring its plans to the Design Review Board for approval.
The bunya bunya tree, which is approximately 140 years old, was saved from the ax last month by the Sebastopol Tree Board and the city council. The bunya bunya is an extremely long-lived species, which undisturbed can live to be 600 years old.
I watched the guy carefully remove the dirt. Barlow and the landscapers seem to take real pride in their work.
Good job Barlow / Sebastopol.
Creative people can find ways to eventually get what they want.
Excavating and then covering the percolation zone will perhaps make the tree “unsafe” to allow its destruction…