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The root of the problem with the tree that toppled across the lawn at the Hawaii State Library earlier this week was exactly that -- rotted roots. Canoe may rise from
library’s fallen treeBy Cynthia Oi
Star-BulletinThe monkeypod, weakened by the winds that buffeted Oahu last week, finally fell early Tuesday morning.
No one was hurt except the tree, which was more than 16 years old, said Stephen Murai, a landscape architect with the state Department of Accounting & General Services. Murai called in Trees of Hawaii Inc., which determined that the tree was not salvageable.
"We couldn't replant it," said Val Aipperspach, a certified arborist with Trees of Hawaii, which was paid $2,500 to remove it from the lawn. "The roots were severely pruned. They were rotted."
But don't fret, tree lovers. The monkeypod likely will live in the form of sculpture, paddles, weapons -- maybe even a canoe -- because although the tree's branches were chipped for eventual mulch and compost, the trunk was taken to North Shore master carver Tuione Pulotu.
William Mahoni, a master carver apprenticed to Pulotu, had asked Aipperspach to keep an eye out for logs that Pulotu could use for carving. When she called him yesterday, Mahoni was more than glad to take the wood off her hands for a delivery charge of about $200.
Mahoni said if the trunk is big enough, Pulotu may carve a canoe from it. If not, it will be fashioned into Hawaiian wood products such as paddles or sculptures.
Meanwhile, Murai said another tree that stands near the site of the fallen one will be examined for similar root problems.
Aipperspach said pruning a tree's roots, as happened to the monkeypod, causes them to rot.
Murai said the tree's roots were pruned on two sides, near the sidewalk, when an adjacent grassy area was landscaped.
"There's a lesson to be learned here, if what Val says is correct," Murai said. "It just goes to show that trees require a lot better care than people think."