Arborist trims notable tree

#Middlebury #CucumberMagnolia

By JANINE SULLIVAN-WILEY

A chunk of a large limb falls downward as an arborist from Asplundh Tree Service, an Eversource contractor, trims Middlebury’s historic Cucumber Magnolia, a Connecticut Champion tree, in celebration of Arbor Day 2021. Eversource coordinated the project to remove hazardous, dead or diseased branches. (Janine Sullivan-Wiley photo)

On a windy, blustery Arbor Day people from around the state came to Middlebury to care for a very special Connecticut Champion Tree, a huge Cucumber Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata) stretching skyward on the corner of Breakneck Hill Road and Artillery Road. This magnificent tree is over 101 feet tall, and over 19 feet in circumference. It’s between 100 and 150 years (it looks much older), and was in need of a little TLC. Some of its branches needed trimming to both promote its health and address safety issues of dead or diseased branches. It also had become hard to see due to the number of trees and shrubs that had grown up around it.

In honor of Arbor Day, Eversource decided to work on Notable Trees in 11 towns around the state. Middlebury’s champion tree was among those chosen. The tree party brought together quite a few groups: Eversource, the Connecticut Notable Tree Committee, the Tree Warden’s Association of Connecticut, the town’s Public Works Committee, and the Middlebury Land Trust (MLT). The tree is on land trust property, and MLT Board member Peter North, also a member of the Connecticut Notable Tree Committee, first identified and nominated this giant for Champion Tree status in 1989.

On that beautiful but very windy morning, the entire collection of workers and observers assembled, accompanied by safety cones, flashing lights and police. On hand were a whole range of tree aficionados and onlookers, including Middlebury First Selectman Ed St. John, North, Doug Pistawka (the Eversource Vegetation Management Supervisor), Frank Kaputa (the Notable Trees Project Cochair), this writer, and various members of the media.

As the onlookers watched, the Asplundh truck slowly moved its bucket holding an arborist, handsaws, and chainsaws slowly to and fro through the branches, trimming here and dropping huge limbs there. It was quite possibly the most carefully scrutinized tree trimming this town has ever seen. Some in the audience had a lot invested in how this all progressed: Eversource to maximize safety and avoid future power outages, the tree folks who looked at the process with all the concern of mother hens, the media trying to get good photo angles, and passing motorists who no doubt wondered what all the fuss was about as they were carefully waved past by Officer Pelletier.

Everything that went on was easily observed due to the excellent work done beforehand by Middlebury’s Department of Public Works headed by Dan Norton. They had cleared away all the small trees and brush (and there had been a lot of it!) along the road surrounding the great tree.

The Cucumber Magnolia is a native tree here in the northeast, so-called because its inconspicuous flowers are followed by a cucumber-shaped fruit that provides food for birds and small animals when it falls to the ground. Middlebury’s tree is one of 3,600 Notable and Champion Trees in Connecticut. Given how heavily forested this state is, there’s some steep competition.

The land it stands on (a bit over 9 acres) was donated to the MLT in June 2020 by sister and brother Meredeth and Paul Moniot. There are no trails on this property, but there is now cleared space along Breakneck Hill Road if you were interested in parking and checking out this remarkable, and officially notable, tree.

You can contact this writer at jswspotlight@gmail.com and visit the Middlebury Land Trust on Facebook or the website at middleburylandtrust.org. Happy hiking!