A Mighty Oak Comes Down After Nearly 400 Years

Normally experts can count the rings of a tree's trunk to see how old it is. That's not the case for the 100 foot oak that had to be taken down Monday behind a house on Biddle Road in Paoli.

A few weeks ago, a huge section of the tree came crashing down on the property behind the house. Fortunately no one was injured, but the tree could not be saved.

4 Seasons Arborscapes co-owners Jim Bonner and David Schreier estimate it was at least 375-400 years old. They led an eight-man crew that took down the 100 foot, 20 ton tree on Monday. Bonner said taking the tree down was a heart wrenching task after he had spent decades pruning and caring for the tree. It is one of two giant oaks he called "the twin towers". Bonner said taking the tree down was the conclusion reached by six experts called in to evaluate the options for saving the oak that he estimated dates as far back as the mid 1600s.

Bonner said the tree's trunk had simply rotted too far to safely support the mammoth oak.