Park Pruning Demonstrates Need for Tree Education, Experts Say

At the same time Freedom Day events were kicking off in downtown St. Thomas on Sunday, local arborist Clay Jones was at the Bovoni landfill, scouring the land for pieces of the lignum vitae trees from Emancipation Garden whose branches were pruned just a few days before.

With help from the landfill’s crews, Jones was able to find about 10 logs that he had gathered to ship over to St. John woodworker Avelino Samuel. Talk in the Garden during events Sunday, as it had been circulating in the days before, centered a bit on the trees, with some residents remarking that it was clear the branches had been improperly shorn.

It could be fine, one person said, remarking that they could grow back just as strong and healthy as before.

But that’s not the case. Lignum vitae, a rare and native plant, grows slowly and is averse to pruning. And, with the trees being decades old, it would be hard for them to recover, according to local environmentalists, who added in the aftermath – and in response to statements from Sports, Parks and Recreation that the pruning was meant to eliminate dead branches that could be a hazard to residents – that “not one branch cut down was a threat.”

In a statement Tuesday, Sports, Parks, and Recreation, which has pruned trees in the park before, took full responsibility, saying that the efforts to beautify the park came ahead of the Freedom Day celebrations.