Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 17, 1992 TAG: 9201170253
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
HISTORIC OAKS
Reaching nearly 80 feet toward the sky, the seven oaks at The Oaks Bed & Breakfast Inn sway heavily, almost brushing the clouds.Born in the late 17th century, decades before the birth of George Washington, these trees on a Christiansburg hilltop are close to death. Time, Mother Nature and man have taken their toll on the mighty oaks.
It has been hard for Tom and Margaret Ray, owners of the property, to watch the inevitable decline of these giants for which The Oaks is named.
It is so difficult in fact, that they decided to try to stop the trees' decline. What would be the use of calling their place The Oaks Bed & Breakfast without the oaks?
With the help of other preservationists, the Rays have received a $2,000 matching grant through the "America The Beautiful Act of 1990," a presidential initiative in which the U.S. Forest Service has made money available for urban and community forestry projects.
As part of the grant, Virginia Tech forestry Professor Peter Feret has donated his free time as a consultant. Not only has Feret provided technical guidance to the Rays, he also is germinating 500 acorns from the oaks.
"We will grow these acorns into seedlings, which will enable us to put the sons and daughters of the trees back on the property," Feret said. "We currently have 18 to 20 new trees growing."
Feret said it's a real opportunity to revegetate the property, because the original trees eventually will die.
"They are going downhill rapidly," said Feret, who worked on a maintenance plan to help save the remaining trees. "I can only guess at their life span."
Part of the problem for these trees is that their roots are suffocating. Three of the original 10 trees were lost when large amounts of soil used for landscaping the property were brought in, limiting ground aeration. One tree was so weakened that Hurricane Hugo blew it over. The other two died.
"Topsoil over the roots killed them," Feret said. "It's a crime."
The seven remaining trees are in various stages of deterioration and lightning strikes have caused the most damage.
The F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co. came to town this week to install lightning protection in the trees. After two days of delays because of high winds and rain, three Roanoke workers strung copper cable in some of the trees.
The cable will direct lightning into the ground. When lightning strikes, it follows the path of least resistance. On a tree, that is the moisture in the tree, which accounts for branches breaking and tree trunks splitting. Most of the remaining oaks already suffer from major splits.
Bartlett crew foreman Larry Carter climbed some 70 feet into the largest oak to nail in a lightning rod. He strung the cable downward along the tree, then drove it about 10 feet into the ground. Lightning will follow this cable into the ground instead of damaging the tree.
Lightning bolts run anywhere up to 10 million volts, said Mike Stevens, Bartlett's local sales representative. "Now you know that'll cause some damage!"
Stevens and tree-climber Thomas Allen also pruned the oaks of dead limbs.
Feret says that even though pruning will help, he advises that the two trees nearest the house be removed. Their trunks, hollowed by disease after lightning strikes, have weakened their base and they may fall into the house.
Work will continue over the next few days to remove excess fill dirt around the trees, treat them for insects and diseases and fertilize them.
"We're going to do what we can," Stevens said. "These are beautiful trees and they're worth saving. We don't know how much longer they'll live. It could be a month, a year or 50 years. You just do what you can."