City weighing fate of 29 Barton Springs trees before June 15 deadline | City Beat

City weighing fate of 29 Barton Springs trees before June 15 deadline | City Beat
By Sarah Coppolla | Thursday, June 4, 2009, 03:07 PM
AN EXCERPT FROM A STORY APPEARING IN TOMORROW’S AMERICAN-STATESMAN
To untrained eyes, the grand pecan tree in the playground by Barton Springs Pool looks robust and healthy.
Arborists, though, see a tree in peril. Its roots are hemmed in by paved surfaces. Its canopy is too thin. Its branches have big wounds, knotty chasms where decay enters and thrives.
The pecan captures the complexities of assessing a tree’s health and value, something the Parks Department is wrestling with right now as it weighs whether to save or fell many of the pool’s trees.
Parks officials said in April that they planned to cut down 29 trees on the pool grounds because they’re in bad shape and pose a risk of toppling or dropping big limbs.
Other arborists have since looked at the trees and say the city could treat and keep most of them, though a few are beyond repair."