Ideas For the Common

[Pierce]

I don't know if it's true or just "local legend", but supposedly someone famous planted those trees. It was either Hancock or his mistress JS Copley, I don't remember.

Copley had a sense of composition..... must've been the accountant

 

[whighlander]

I've got an idea for the Tremont Mall on the Common and the Old forlorn Elm perhaps planted by Hancock

Cut down the old elm and put in a transparent DD to cut down on the potential for an accidental shot at the Governor's Office

We could re-use the design of the glass box for the Hancock (see Friday's Globe) about the "killed by NIMBYs" (including chief NIMBY Henry Cobb) plan to replace the windswept plaza by a glass box restaurant

Then we'd come nearly full circle -- with a tree planted by Hancock replaced by a Glass Box designed for "the Hancock"

Westy (somewhat with my tongue "firmly planted in cheek")

 

[Merper]

is it really not feasible to move that tree?

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

A tree that old? I would imagine you would kill it if you tried.

 

[JimboJones]

Same thing happened with my uncle.

 

[tobyjug]

Next time water your uncle after you plant him.

 

[kennedy]

Ahaha Toby, funny guy.

 

[stellarfun]

That tree does not look like an American elm.

Below is a picture of an American elm in Harvard Yard.

The Old Elm, Boston Common.

 

[commuter guy]

^^The American Elm is known for its graceful arching vase shape as shown in your pic. The trees in the Common look more liked clubbed feet, but they are probably much older and have been severely pruned to keep them going. I'm not an arborist, but the leaves on the trees in the Common appear to be Elm leaves.

 

[stellarfun]

^^The American Elm is known for its graceful arching vase shape as shown in your pic. The trees in the Common look more liked clubbed feet, but they are probably much older and have been severely pruned to keep them going. I'm not an arborist, but the leaves on the trees in the Common appear to be Elm leaves.

I would think most old American elms, the ones growing before Dutch elm killed most of them off, would feature a long vertical trunk, with few lateral branches until up near the crown.

Here is a picture of a Chinese elm: