English Elm Tree

Sr. Anndavid Naeger wrote this week about the beautiful English Elm tree on the Motherhouse Campus. For many years, Anndavid has written a newsletter called “Our Days at Loretto Motherhouse” for Loretto Community Members. In celebration of all things tree, the Heritage Center has an exhibit of art, created mostly by Loretto Sisters, featuring trees in our rotating gallery. This exhibit will be up through the end of the year. We have included in this post some additional art featuring trees, created by Sr. Vera Marie Day, that didn’t make it into the gallery exhibit.

According to an amateur measurer, the ancient English Elm has a circumference of 232 inches and stands well over 100 feet tall with a deep root system. It has thrived for an untold number of years beside the south side of the garage and what used to be the swimming pool/bath house area. It is magnificent as a whole as well as each individual inch. Every branch holds its allotted load of leaves which contribute to the welfare of the whole. Each twig is settled in its assigned place of belonging and has a purpose, even if it’s just a landing place for an occasional bird. As the tree is studied, three sides seem normal and healthy. However, the north side has suffered damage at some point which has grown into a wound which seems to touch the very heart of the tree. The original hurt must have been too great for the tree to seal and hide from the elements. The place is stained with rain water which drains through the tree. But the tree offers the view seemingly as a trophy of survival and not as an ugly scar. In November 2022, the tree was equipped with a lightning protection system which provides a path for an electrical charge to reach the ground where the energy from the lightning strike dissipates. Arborist Dave Leonard, a tree specialist from Lexington, Kentucky, said in spite of the tree’s exposed inner side, the tree has a bright future of continued growth.