A Tree Dies in Hudson

A few years ago, this tree--one of three planted in front of 249 Warren Street--was the victim of a brutal attack. Someone leaving the old Savoia, late at night and drunk, deliberately kicked the tree so hard and so often that it split the trunk. At the time, Ben Eaton of The Secret Gardener, who had planted the trees, predicted that it couldn't survive, but the owners didn't want to accept that. The trunk was wrapped for almost a year in the hope that the tree would heal itself, and for a while it looked as if that might happen.

Last summer, this tree and its two companions reportedly suffered another assault. Signs placed on the trees by their owners announced that the trees had been poisoned. Still the trees, although certainly not thriving, survived--even the one with the great wound in its trunk.

But this summer, it's all over for the poor abused tree. With spring, no leaves appeared. Whether the result of a natural process or further abuse, the trunk is now split from top to bottom. As further insult, someone has snapped off one of the poor tree's dead branches.

It's not easy being a street tree in Hudson.