Thirty years ago, tree trimmers committed a "bozo no-no" by topping off ironwood trees at Kapiolani Park, setting off a chain of events that caused many of them to sicken, says city Parks Director Bill Balfour. New saplings to take place
of dying Kapiolani ironwoodsBy Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.com"We're paying the price now," he said, because 32 more of Waikiki's ironwoods have to come down starting today. Last year, 47 trees along Kalakaua Avenue were taken down.
Old age and disease have contributed to the demise of the ironwoods, most of them well over 100 years old. They will be replaced by saplings that "should last for another 100 years," he said at a news conference yesterday at the park.
Balfour said the city has had several experts concur that "the trees are at the end of their life. ... We looked at every possible way to save them," but because of safety reasons, they have to be removed.
Abner Undan, president of Trees of Hawaii, a certified arborist who inspected the trees and recommended they be removed, said "topping off" or pruning the tree from the top is "catastrophic" because it deprives the tree of the ability to manufacture or photosynthesize food through leaves. The branches die and insects invade the dead wood, which is the "start of its demise," he said.
Mary Steiner, chief executive officer of the Outdoor Circle, said her organization "looked at every single one (of the trees to be removed), and we see the need" to replace them. "As long as they're planting others in their place, we're happy," she said.
According to Stan Oka, city beautification administrator, 23 trees will be removed from Kalakaua and nine from the Kapiolani Park carriage path mauka of the new bandstand. Some of the trees are hollow or have a shallow root system, which makes them topple over easily.
A major reason contributing to a tree's ill health is abuse, he said. Park users dump their leftover burning charcoal briquettes on the base of the trees, and cars on Kalakaua run over the roots of the trees planted right on the curb, giving their roots little opportunity to take hold, he said.
Oka said he considered bracing the sickly trees with guide wires, but the constant maintenance required would be too costly, and he did not want to tie one tree to another for fear it would fall and take the healthy tree down with it.
Apparently, crews cut 10 feet or more off the top of the ironwoods to make them shorter and lessen the chance of wind toppling or breaking off the tree, Oka said.
The new trees are only about 10 feet high and an inch or two in diameter. But the saplings planted last year along Kalakaua are doing well, he added.