JANUARY 21, 2014 | BY JC MILLER

 

When the magnificent heritage Eucalyptus near the Camron Stanford House at Oakland’s Lake Merritt was toppled by extraordinary winds this past November, it definitely made a noise! Nearby residents say it sounded like a plane crash and felt like an earthquake. It is nothing short of miraculous that no one was injured and that the nearby Lake Chalet restaurant and other park amenities escaped destruction.

For now the monumental trunk makes for a fascinating climbing structure and playground (never mind the “no climbing” signs!), but what happens next? Clearing the tons of debris will be a Herculean task—and certainly expensive. Oakland might think about letting most of the trunk stay right where it landed while undertaking an urban lumbering project to deal with the giant limbs. The active and imaginative community of makers and designers that calls the city home could very likely turn the calamity into a creative opportunity.One model for what to do with the massive trunk might be the sculptures/play structures that can be found at the Marin Country Mart across from the Larkspur ferry terminal.

We have also been experimenting with lumber salvaged from trees that had to be removed from job sites. On one recent project, the cut rounds from large Eucs were repurposed as a series of garden stairs. Our hats are off to Cheryl Carnation and the crew of Carnation Construction for their great execution of the idea. We know that this sort of thing is much easier to draw than to build! Rolling tables made from a couple of especially nice pieces will grace the home’s patio. This idea was inspired by the wonderful split log table featured on the dining terrace of Mua Bar & Restaurant in Oakland’s uptown neighborhood.

Redwood lumber salvaged from a safety removal project became a whimsical path in another garden. In that case we had the help of Artisan Burlwood in Berkeley. They milled the logs into cubes and rectangular blocks. The homeowners have nicknamed this feature the “block walk”.

We are happy to see local material reborn as part of a garden or landscape and hope something like this can happen for the fallen tree at Lake Merritt.