Great Oak
We've got roots... and branches!
UPDATE FEB 2025: The Great Oak fell on Sunday, Feb 16. Read our post about it on the blog.
If Boxerwood had a mascot, it would be the Great Oak. This tree has watched over countless education programs, meditative walks, storytelling sessions, photographs, and even a few weddings. This Shumard Oak (Quercus shumardii) was here long before Dr. Munger purchased the property in the 1950s. The environment was almost certainly open farmland here at one point and this was probably a lone shade tree in the pasture. We think that this tree is two or three stems that were growing close together and finally merged into what appears to be one main trunk.
During a summer thunderstorm in July 2021, one of the main limbs and part of the trunk of the Great Oak fell. The Great Oak had been cabled by professional arborists to keep other large branches from breaking under the weight imbalance of the tree. After the storm, we kept the large pieces of the fallen branch and cut them into sections for seats and for climbing. This is another area where children can climb, play, and use their imaginations.
In February 2025, a few years after we lost one large limb, the entire tree uprooted and fell, taking down a few other trees in its wake. The winter of 2025 had been wetter than normal, with several rain and snow events that made the ground very saturated. Combined with a wind event, the tree was already weighted to one side and fell over. If you look at the exposed root ball, you may notice that it looks small compared to the large tree and spreading branches. It was quite shallow rooted, and we speculate that the roots from the original tree in the center of the rootball were actually already dead and not assisting in holding the tree up.
But, like so many things in nature, the tree has taken on a new chapter in its existence. The holes in the tree and its many crooks and crevices have become a thriving housing complex for insects, birds, small mammals, and probably even a snake or two. Scientists note that oak trees support over 4,000 different species of insects and other animals, even after its death. Our Great Oak is like a whole ecosystem itself, providing food and shelter for countless organisms. In addition to being a biodiversity magnet, this tree also sequesters carbon in it's trunk, roots, and branches. Some of the tree will be used for fuelwood, but the main trunk and rootball will remain on site for wildlife habitat and as a demonstration of the benefits of trees, even at the end of its lifecycle.