Tree experts volunteer to help famous tree’s offspring recover from onslaught.
By: David Campbell
Tree experts with Woodwinds Associates of Kingston and Silva Guard of Ewing chipped in a morning of free labor Wednesday to make sure the Mercer Oak’s young offspring at Princeton Battlefield State Park has a smooth recovery from the recent onslaught of cicadas.
It was a reunion of sorts, said Woodwinds Vice President Pepper deTuro. Mr. deTuro, 33, runs the business with his father, Sam, 67, who founded Woodwinds in 1967.
Before the state contracted out the work, he said, his father used to volunteer his services for upkeep of the original Mercer Oak, which stood for 300 years before being felled by high winds in March 2000. The elder deTuro also used to raise funds for care of the storied old tree selling saplings grown from its acorns, his son said.
"Now we’re back," the Woodwinds vice president said.
On Wednesday morning and free of charge, Woodwinds joined with fellow tree-care firm Silva Guard in treating the young tree grown from a Mercer Oak acorn that now stands within yards of the stump from the original oak. The state had called seeking local firms interested in adopting the tree, Mr. deTuro said.
The volunteers trimmed back branches damaged from egg laying by female cicadas to better ensure new growth, and they treated the root system with a special organic root food brewed up by Woodwinds. The young tree’s roots, Mr. deTuro noted, are still in shock from when it was transplanted in 2001.
"Cicadas laid eggs in this gigantic oak for hundreds of years, now they have this tiny oak," he explained. "They just decimated it. So we pruned it back to make sure its wounds are compartmentalized and will heal properly."
Joining them was Silva Guard President Jack Scratchard, who chipped in with pruning work. Mr. Scratchard used to work for Mr. deTuro’s father as one of his "top foremen" before starting his own company, Mr. deTuro said.
According to Mr. Scratchard, "We removed most of the dead and damaged sections of the oak and tried to cut it back to sound viable buds. Looking close, you can tell new buds are re-sprouting already. Hopefully, it will be a healthier tree because of what we did."
Park Curator John Mills said the look of the tree after the cicadas had done their worst was pretty bad, and said that upkeep is important.
"It is an offspring of the original oak," he said. "The public was interested in seeing the tree looking healthy again. It’s important to maintain it as a direct descendent of the Mercer Oak itself."
The Mercer Oak was named after Gen. Hugh Mercer, who was impaled by a British soldier’s bayonet during the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Princeton in 1777. He found a place to rest on the oak’s trunk while the fighting continued. At the conclusion of the battle, Gen. Mercer was taken to the nearby Clarke House, where he died from his wounds.