Our stately Crepe Myrtle that anchors the courtyard garden got a trim last week when arborist Cy Carlberg dropped by The Ebell to help us shape the tree at the request of our special events staff. It seems our tree blocks the views for some guests and contributes a bit of extra plant materials to dinner plates of guests who are seated on the upper patio terrace for weddings.
Like you, we love our historic trees and aspire to give them the best of care, so we were thrilled when noted arborist, Cy Carlberg, a long-time friend of Ebell Board Director Christie McAvoy and more recently friend of mine, agreed to advise us how to trim the tree while still keeping it full and lush for the garden view. Carlberg did more than advise, she actually trimmed our beautiful tree herself with the able assistance of house and grounds staff Sal Mejia-Contreras and Edgar Reyes who helped with some of the heavy lifting.
The Crepe Myrtle isn’t part of the original landscaping plan for our garden but it’s quite likely to be around 25 or more years old so we wanted to make sure it was trimmed by an expert. Cy trimmed the lower branches, raising the canopy of the tree a bit higher so there are now better sight lines for special events that take place on our patio. She also reduced some of the errant branches to give the tree a more stately shape. And we bought her lunch!
Take a look the next time you are in the garden. We hope we will all enjoy this lovely tree for many years to come.
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- Some of the lower branches were trimmed to raise the tree canopy.
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- Sal was able to cut through the hardwood of tree.
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- Jenny Young on our special events staff explained where guests are seated on the terrace.
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- Edgar (left) and Sal took turns cutting the large branches.
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- Thanks to Christy McAvoy, Edgar Reyes, Sal Mejia-Contreras and Cy Carlberg for a job well done.
