Mahogany trees by Ken Johnson. Rock Ball!

[Ken Johnson]

Some of my friends here have asked to see more pictures of my work with giant mahogany trees. Here are some cool pictures of how we cut solid limestone balls. There are roots in that rock!

[virtualpalm]

That sure looks like Rigo and Azael from Signature in the hole with the jackhammers. Glad we could help!

BTW, below are a couple photos of two of the "rock ball" mahogany trees being installed today by our Tree Crew in the Miami Design District:

They look great in their new homes... now only seven more to go in this phase of the project.

Jody

[Jeff Searle]

Jody,

IMO, the trees are pretty damn big for being planted smack up against a building that size. Those trees will never have a nice shape to them,huh? But hey, if that's what some archt. called for, so be it.

[virtualpalm]

Those are the two largest trees in this phase of the project, and we plant them where we are told to plant them.

Jody

[Alicehunter2000]

Those are huge, and the rock infused root ball has to contribute greatly to the overall weight of the tree. How much of a setback will these trees experience with that amount of root being cut?

[virtualpalm]

When root pruned and treated correctly, David, there should be no shock at all. Growth rate of the canopy will be slowed while the new roots are re-establishing, which can take 1-2 years. Other than that, they will remain healthy specimens for decades to come.

Jody

[virtualpalm]

David, I was onsite yesterday and was able to get a couple photos of new root growth on a couple of the "rock ball" mahoganies after they were installed. This is what you want to see with proper root pruning and preparation. These new roots are what will allow the tree to re-establish itself without too much setback.

Jody

[virtualpalm]

While I was onsite yesterday, I also took some additional photos of the 10 specimen mahogany and gumbo limbo trees that we installed on this street last week (10 specimens in one week is a major logistical feat!). The first photo shows the arrangement of five of the mahoganies in one planting pit. As you can see, we put wood braces on them as a precaution initially for a few days while they settle into place, but the above-ground bracing cannot remain because the civil contractor will be re-pouring the concrete to create 4' x 5' "tree grates" that will be filled with Addapave, which is a porous aggregate.

Once the trees are allowed to settle for a few days, the wood bracing is removed and the structural soil is added and compacted in preparation for re-pouring the concrete sidewalk. The underground bracing system that we use consists of 4-1/2' long steel augers set into the subgrade at the bottom of the rootball and high-tensile-strength nylon webbing and adjustable turnbuckles that anchor the rootball to the subgrade. We successfully used this system on 350+ veitchia palms and nine specimen trees at SoundScape Park in Miami Beach, which opened last year.

Here is a shot of the canopies of four of the five mahoganies in the southeastern planting pit (the fifth tree is hidden behind the fourth).

Across the street, we installed three gumbo limbos and two more mahoganies.

Finally, here are the two tall, upright mahoganies in front of the new Louis Vuitton store. The mural on the storefront reportedly cost $85,000 to a famous artist who painted it with spray paint. These two trees may not look like much now after having been structurally pruned, but they will fill out quickly.

Thanks again to Ken J. for providing and helping us prepare some of these trees for transport.

Enjoy!

Jody

[virtualpalm]

David, I missed the first part of your comment. The two largest trees that we installed the first day weighed 17,000 and 22,000 lbs and were set using a 70-ton crane (which you can see in my first photo above). The rest of the trees were smaller and were set with a boom truck.

Jody

[virtualpalm]

I thought I would post another update on the "rock ball" mahoganies since the new sidewalks have been poured and the Addapave aggregate has been added around the base of each tree.

This first photo is a street view of several of the large mahoganies we installed on the south side of the street:

This next photo is an "aerial" view (from the rooftop garden of the Garden Building) of the gumbo limbos and mahoganies we installed on both sides of the street:

Here is a photo of the last two trees that we installed in front of the Moore Building (they didn't want to be left out!). The tree on the right is Pachira aquatica (Guiana Chestnut) and the next tree to the left is the native Clusia rosea (Large-leaf Clusia or Autograph Tree):

And here is a closeup of the Addapave aggregate around the bases of the Clusia and the Pachira:

We also need to thank Bobby Lorenz for his invaluable assistance with preparing and loading most of these trees.

Enjoy!

Jody

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Interesting tree pit.

http://www.chameleonways.com/addapave_tp.html

[Alicehunter2000]

I just checked back at this topic. Wow, those trees looked like they have been there for a long time. It is amazing that all the leaves don't come off during the process. I assume that since these trees are growing in solid limestone that any alkalinity from the newly poured concrete would not be a problem. $85,000 for that spray paint....dang....I think we are all in the wrong business. I always wonder if someone like that artist goes home and laugh's to himself about how much people pay for stuff like that; or does he go home and actually think that his work is worth every penny. The base on that Pachira looks similar to a cypress.