Middleton Oak needs pruning to live

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The Middleton oak

Designated a Constitution Tree in 1989, the Middleton oak is about 67 feet tall and about 118 feet around at its crown. Tree specialists are trying to determine why the great oak's branches are snapping off.

The Middleton Oak, which was one of the nation's largest oaks until two of its larger branches snapped earlier this month, needs to get smaller to survive.

That's the recommendation of Middleton Place's consultants, who say that two of its surviving limbs and all of its Spanish moss should be removed.

The consulting team from Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories included Thomas Smiley and certified arborists Mike Dunkerley and Patrick Franklin. Their job was to evaluate the failures and advise how to save what remains of the tree. Middleton received their report Friday.

The team also determined the two breaks were related, even though the first branch broke around 2 p.m. April 9, several hours before the second, said Sidney Frazier, Middleton's vice president of horticulture.

The first branch failed because of excessive decay near where the branch met the trunk; wind wasn't a factor. The second failed because of the first.

"You kind of got a domino effect," Frazier said. "The first branch caused some problems for the second one, even though the cable snapped when it came down, it caused excess stress on the second."

Experts considered the live oak the second largest tree on the East Coast, as measured by its total amount of wood. (It had about 4,800 cubic feet before it lost limbs). The only larger tree on the East Coast is a bald cypress in Florida.

In 1989 the oak was designated a Constitution Tree, meaning it was around when the document was written. Actually, the tree began growing along the

Ashley River centuries before Henry Middleton — president of the First Continental Congress — started a plantation there in 1741.

It has been among the plantation's most popular spots for weddings and engagements. Pat Kennedy, Middleton's vice president of marketing, said the plantation's May weddings planned under the tree have been moved to other sites and that a decision will be made later on weddings after that. "Everybody has been very understanding," she said.

The tree still looks much like it did the afternoon of April 10, with its branches still lying across a path and the tree area cordoned off by yellow caution tape.

Frazier said workers might begin clearing the branches in a few weeks.

The consultants said if the two branches now supported by telephone poles are kept, these temporary props should be replaced with three to four permanent ones.

The consultants also recommend new treatments to repel boring insects attracted to the tree's wounds, inspecting and removing other decayed branches on a timely basis, removing all Spanish moss, replacing the tree's vertical cables, installing props under other low branches, and restricting access under the tree.

Frazier said Middleton officials will decide in coming weeks about the timetable for pursuing each of the 12 different recommendations.

"The most important thing is to ensure the health of the tree, of what remains," he said. "That's what we're really concentrating on. Everything we do will be focused on that."

Reach Robert Behre at rbehre@postandcourier.com or 937-5771.