Some last notes on the Kirchner tree

Well it's been over a week and the majority of the tree is now down on the ground.  We have moved most of the wood to the bottom of the hill for post processing.  In doing so I took this picture of the largest section of the trunk.

The arborist and I started counting rings to see if we could determine it's age.  We both arrived at the 120-125 year age for this white oak.  More interesting is the cyclical growing nature of large trees when you see inside.  This particular specimen shows a robust growth for the first 45-50 years.  Then a dramatic 10 year slow down.  This can be due to climate, pests and disease, or sometimes surrounding shade from other trees.  After that period it again grew rapidly for another 25 years which it then again slowed for about 8 years.

The last years of it's existence the growth was robust and fairly impressive for a tree that size.  As I noted in an earlier post, we had commented on how good the tree looked at then end of this year, full growth with no tip die back.

Anyway, for you who have not seen the area, here are a few pictures of what it now looks like on 13.  In the coming weeks we will begin to dismantle the wall and after the stump is ground begin to reshape the area to prepare for some sod while we determine whats next for both the tree and the surrounding area.  A sad way to end 2013 indeed.

From 125 yards out

From 70 yards out