So this happened....

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

A HUGE, old oak tree on the edge of the pond that was sitting in water for over a week fell into the pond after that heavy rain the other day. That tree is at least 50 years old, if it's a day, probably older than that. When the pond isn't flooded, it stood on dry ground, but the pond has been overfilled for over 10 days now, and it was sitting in water. The roots just couldn't hold on in that soggy soil.

To show how big is really is, it spans almost the entire pond.

The roots - building to right for scale - our buildings are 50+ feet long. That' only about a half of one.

Now we're afraid this cluster of oaks is going to fall too, because it has also been sitting in water. for days.

A large limb also broke out of one of our large trees during the storm last weekend. We had tree crews over here all day taking dangerous trees out.

One of the best things about this complex is all the trees. We lost a lot during Irma (one fell on the other side of my building) and now the owner is having all the dangerous ones and those too close to buildings removed. People will be missing their shade.

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Comments (5)

corkball (z6 TN)
8 years ago
I am not partial to live oaks, and I am not particularly impressed by their ability to stay upright, but that is sad. Maybe this is an opportunity to plant bald cypress! Does anyone know of a large spreading shade tree in FL that DOESN'T fall over when wet? Most of the large trees that are not oak around here seem to grow upright (sycamore, bald cypress, tulip poplar)
dirtygardener
Original Author
8 years ago
There is no such thing, not because they don't want to, but because of our soil

"AMAZING FACT: Roots of all plants in South Florida - even mature live oaks - go down in the soil no more than about 4 feet! Why? Because there's nothing there for them to hold onto, and no nutrients to make it worth their while.

Most houses already have lots of roots under them...and roots won't do any damage growing under a house provided the tree is placed well away."

https://www.south-florida-plant-guide.com/shade-trees.html
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Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
8 years ago
DG,

First, thanks for a great set of pics and description! I love to read posts like this, even when the subject matter is so sad. It is a post like this that has it all over Facebook.

I'm sorry to see such a huge, beautiful old tree go down. Think of how long it had been there, all the people who had admired it's beauty, who knows how many had been in its shade over the years. I hope you don't lose any more of them because as we all know, you can't get another old tree instantly. Once it is gone, it's gone.

Jacksonville is now ten inches above normal annual rainfall. Your area must be the same or even higher.

Thanks again for the pictorial!

Carol in Jacksonville
dirtygardener thanked Carol love_the_yard (Zone 9A Jacksonville, FL)
SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
8 years ago
That sucks, glad it did not damage any of the property, but it always sucks to lose a tree.
dirtygardener
Original Author
8 years ago
Carol, glad to oblige. It just made me so sad, I had to share it. I'm a Pantheist, and the oak tree is the symbol of our faith, so it hurts me on a spiritual level when one dies.

SMC, yes, it does. We've lost so many big trees since I've been here, and all the young trees being planted just make me sadder. One day, all these beautiful big trees will be gone.