Guy Meilleur stopped in Kewanee Monday on a mission. Meilleur was on his way to Chicago to catch a plane to Montana where he was scheduled to speak at a conference, but duty called, and so he found himself at the base of Kewanee’s oldest tree.
For almost two decades, Meilleur, an ISA board-certified master arborist, and others have acted as the caretakers of the great Osage Orange, a gnarled tree that stands (or leans slightly) on the parking strip near the intersection of Main Street and Central Boulevard.
The tree was originally planted by the Potter brothers to act as a fence for soil conservation, said Meilleur. In previous columns on the subject, Kewanee historian Dean Karau traces the history of the tree and places it at over 175 years old.
Meilleur has made the trip to Kewanee from his home in North Carolina several times. Karau credits the arborist, along with Guy Sternberg, owner and operator of Starhill Forest Arboretum in Petersburg, Ill., with saving the tree.
“Meilleur and Sternberg were two of those whose boots on the ground in 2009 saved the tree when the city had contemplated cutting it down,” Dean wrote.
In his previous visits, and as he did this week, Meilleur took cuttings from the tree and January is a good time to do it, he said.
“It’s the best time to collect cuttings that will be used to keep the heritage alive and for progeny,” he said.
Meilleur took several cuttings from the tree, which will be used to try to grow more trees. And he also pruned the tree at the top, with the goal of reducing its height.
“It certainly has grown since I pruned it in 2010,” he said. “It’s a lot higher than I remember and full of new growth, which is encouraging for its vitality.”
The purpose of the pruning over the years has been to try to correct the tree’s eastward lean.
“I’m going to recommend a significant amount to be removed from the road side of the tree to correct the lean,” he said. But even after the extensive pruning, “it will still look like a tree.”
Meilleur will consult with city officials, he said, who will finish the pruning on the east side of the tree using a bucket truck.
According to Meilleur, the Osage Orange variety is “extremely resistant to decay, tough and hearty” and Kewanee’s tree is a male species of the tree that doesn’t produce the Osage oranges or hedge balls or hedge apples as they are sometimes called. Only the female trees will bear fruit.
Monday could quite possibly be Meilleur’s last trip to tend to the tree.
“I keep trying to retire,” he said.
His goal is to find someone more local to come aboard as caretaker of Kewanee’s Osage Orange.
You can reach Meilleur at historictreecare@gmail.com.
