Published: 12/27/2020 9:34:23 PM
NORTHAMPTON – A crew from Jim's Tree Service in Greenfield used a bucket lift and a boom-mounted grapple saw to cut down an American elm tree, piece by piece, behind Northampton Bicycle on Tuesday. Estimated to be about 200 years old, the specimen was one of few in the area that had withstood Dutch Elm disease. Its canopy shaded a densely populated area between Pleasant Street and Michelman Avenue, but in October a severe windstorm split its two trunks, rendering it unsafe. Northampton Bicycle manager Leila Everett said the shop had cared for the tree for the last forty years, having it pruned and cabled to stabilize it, and she was sad to see it go.
Kevin Gutting can be reached at kgutting@gazettenet.com.