Here’s some happy news from August that we missed but would like to share with our readers.
Due to the work of Jennifer Ryan, Landscape Consultant for the Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy, the 340-year-old Great White Ash at the top of the hill in Memorial Park was certified this past summer as a Signature Tree, the biggest ash in Essex County and the second biggest in the state. It will be listed in the NJ Big and Heritage Tree Registry.
According to a post on the MMPC’s Facebook page, “New Jersey’s Big Tree guy, Joseph Bennett, came out and certified it … it is 340 years old! Jennifer has nicknamed our Signature Tree ‘Yggdrasil,’ the Great Ash in Norse mythology, which is the center of the cosmos. Congrats Big Tree!”
And the news gets better.
Per Robin Moree via Facebook, “Thank Goodness the Conservancy had the foresight almost five years ago to have it inoculated against the invasive Eastern Ash Borer that has started its relentless push through Essex County which will most likely result in the killing of all Ash trees which have not been inoculated. Oh, and thanks to the Open Space Trust Fund for paying for Jennifer’s salary and the inoculation of the Ash Trees in the Park.”
Indeed, those following the news in South Orange are aware of the decimation taking place in that town, including the removal of dozens of diseased ash trees in Grove Park and the loss of a perfect canopy on streets like Coudert Place.
Long live Maplewood’s Yggdrasil!
Found out more at maplewoodmemorialparkconservancy.org.
Maplewood’s 340-year-old Great White Ash in all her glory atop the Memorial Park amphitheater during Maplewoodstock.
