DATE: Friday, April 4, 1997                 TAG: 9704020121

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   80 lines

NEIGHBORHOOD LANDMARK ``JUST GOT TIRED'

On the first day of spring, people expect flowers to bloom, birds to sing and bees to buzz.

But not a budding tree to topple over.

That's what happened March 20 when a towering oak tree that had supplied shade over two Chesapeake families' homes just seemed to give up the ghost.

Luckily no one was hurt and little or no property was damaged when the tree simply fell over, roots and all, on property owned by William ``Billy'' and Robynne King on Etheridge Road, near Gloria Drive.

But an old neighborhood landmark is now gone.

``My husband heard it fall,'' said Marjery Old, who lives next door to the property where the mighty oak once ruled. ``He said it sounded like a loud thud and that was it. We couldn't believe it.''

The house, built in 1837, once belonged to Gordon Old's parents and grandparents.

``My husband's parents and grandparents remembered the tree,'' Marjery Old said. ``My husband guessed that the tree must have been at least 200 years old. It measured five feet in diameter at the trunk, so it must have been old.''

``It was immense,'' said a still shocked Robynne King. ``It's now just lying on its side with the roots ripped right out of the ground. Funny, it withstood hurricanes, high winds and that tornado we had a while back and then on the first day of spring with hardly any wind blowing at all it just toppled over.''

King said ever since word got out that the tree had fallen over, neighbors have been coming around to pay their respects.

``Many people who've come by told us that they have parents and relatives who remember the tree always being there,'' King said. ``Now, when you see it lying on its side, it seems so sad.''

King wasn't at home when the tree fell over. She received the news in a phone call from her son, who had just come home from school.

``He called me up and asked ``Mom, what happened to our tree?' '' King said. ``I told him I had no idea. When I found out I was just shocked. We're all real upset over it. We're wondering what could have happened. Maybe it just got tired.''

Leave your theories of alien tree mutilators or killer termites behind. The tree more than likely fell over due to age, gravity and environment, said David Vandergriff, an associate Virginia Extension Service agent in agriculture and natural resources with a specialty in horticulture.

``Like anything else, as a tree grows older it doesn't function as it once did,'' he said. ``Its root system may be declined with age. Trees rock back and forth as the wind ebbs and flows and if the tree goes too far in its rocking motion, gravity then takes it down.''

Oak trees can live from 300 to 400 years in their natural setting but in an urban environment where it's subject to pollution, digging, disruption or change in waterflow patterns, that same oak may only last 100 to 200 years, he said.

Vandergriff said that even though its outward appearance seemed healthy, complete with early spring buds, it could still have been sick or just too old to withstand the many changes brought on by an urban environment or changes in climate.

``If the tree experienced several dry seasons and then several wet ones, that too could have impacted the root system,'' Vandergriff said. ``Again, older roots aren't as adaptable as younger ones.''

Anyone else in the area with a large, seemingly healthy tree on their property should have a certified, reputable arborist examine it, Vandergriff advised.

``That way he or she can prescribe steps to keep the tree healthy or decide to have it cut down before it falls over and injures people and damages property,'' he said.

Now all the Kings can do with their tree is have it removed from their yard.

``I want to get lumber from it and have some kind of furniture made as a way to remember it,'' King said. ``But it shaded our entire house during the summer. We're really going to miss that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN

``My husband's parents and grandparents remembered the tree,'' said

Marjery Old, next door neighbor to the fallen oak on Etheridge Road.

``My husband guessed that the tree must have been at least 200 years

old. It measured five feet in diameter at the trunk.''

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