Monticello ends bid to save 19th-century tree

By McGregor McCance

Published: June 24, 2008

Hollowed and withering, one of Monticello’s most famous trees will be taken down.

The towering tulip poplar – revered both because of its size and the common misconception that Thomas Jefferson planted it – has been in decline for years.

Despite numerous efforts to save the poplar on the south side of Jefferson’s house, workers this evening will begin a two-day removal process.

“At the trunk at the ground level, only 17 percent of that mass is live wood. The rest is hollow,” said Wayne Mogielnicki, Monticello’s director of communications.

“It’s like a pipe at this point.”

The tree stands 115 feet, with a diminished canopy that had impressed visitors for years when healthier and provided welcomed shade for events such as the annual July 4 naturalization ceremony for new U.S. citizens.

Its exact age can’t be determined because the trunk is mostly hollow, but estimates put the tree’s age at at least 150 years.

The earliest photos of Monticello, taken around 1870, show a young tree in the spot where the tulip poplar now stands. That could be the existing tree.

If Jefferson had planted the existing tree in 1807, however, it would have appeared more mature in those photos, Mogielnicki said.

“Maybe it’s an offspring of the original,” he said.

Root disease is the poplar’s main problem. That has thinned the canopy, causing the wood to dry out.

The tree’s position also works against it. The poplar’s roots run under the home’s foundation, constricting growth.

Cables were attached to the tree and another on the opposite side of the house in 1978. The lines would make sure the trees fall onto the lawn area instead of the home.

For decades, Monticello caretakers have tried to nurse the tulip poplar to avoid cutting it down.

The canopy was pruned around 1900, and large limbs have been removed from time to time.

In the 1920s, the center trunk and other limbs were cut, leaving a structure that resembles four large fingers. A second major pruning occurred in 1978.

Tree experts recommended removal in 1997, but Mog-ielnicki said a team of arborists, engineers and an architect developed an internal, flexible cabling system to support the giant poplar.

A decade later, it appears, the old tree is out of options.

“When it was healthy it really provided some shade, and it’s going to change the landscape around the house,” Mogielnicki said. “We feel bad about it and have tried everything.”

In recent years, a copper beech tree and a linden tree have also been removed from the Monticello grounds.

The tree will be down soon, but some of its wood will likely get a second life.

Fredericksburg-based Historical Woods of America is expected to create an array of items from usable wood from the poplar.

Company founder William E. Jewell works with artists and others to create everything from fountain pens and bookmarks to vases and furniture, using wood from trees on historic sites. Some of those products may end up being sold at Monticello and through Jewell’s Web site.

His business recently obtained wood from a Cedar of Lebanon tree at James Madison’s Montpelier in Orange County and from a branch of a white oak at James Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highland in Albemarle.

Jewell also already has some wood from the Monticello poplar, which he collected in March when limbs were removed. He describes the quality as “unbelievable” for wood art.

“It’s a way to keep the history alive for generations to come through the creation of these products and also not let this stuff go to the landfill,” Jewell said.

Prices on the Historical Woods Web site run from $10 for a laser-engraved bookmark to $495 for an end table. Pens range from $150 to $350.

Monticello plans a news conference this afternoon about the tulip poplar, a fast-growing tree common in the Southeast and known for its distinctive leaves and a springtime bloom that resembles a tulip.

Bartlett Tree Co. will use a 90-ton crane in the removal, and work will be done after visitor hours this evening and Thursday evening.