Tuesday’s storm and torrential rain broke the oldest linden tree in Vilnius. The 300-year-old plant was growing in Sapiegų Park.
The news of the storm’s devastating effects was shared online by a community of tree activists.
Sapiegų Park was set up in the 17th century in the estate of Kazimieras Jonas Sapiega (Kazimierz Jan Sapieha), adjacent to his palatial residence that has also survived to this day.
The linden tree was planted near the elaborate entrance gates to what is now Antakalnio Street.
The two-trunk tree was included in the municipality’s list of natural heritage sites and stood 28 metres tall. The trunk was 4.4 metres in circumference.
Gediminas Kulikauskas, a historian, writer and columnist interviewed by LRT.lt, said that the linden tree was very dear to him personally because he lives in the neighbourhood of Antakalnis.
“According to experts, it was planted in the 17th century, during the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was planted and grew together with the entire Sapiegų Park,” he said. “It is such an old tree, one of the most venerable and oldest trees in Vilnius, worthy of protection and respect.”
Kulikauskas expressed his disappointment that the tree had not been properly protected despite calls from the Antakalnis community. Cars and even heavy machinery used to pass close to the linden tree, almost through its roots, he said.
“From our point of view, it's really abnormal, we saw ridges across the asphalt where the roots are. This attitude did not add to our health, and most of all we probably needed the care of a good arborist,” said Kulikauskas.
“It fell, as I say, mercifully, it didn’t disturb anyone, it didn’t injure people, it just slightly dented the roof of a building. A painful but gentle break,” said the resident of Antakalinis.
Other trees in the park were not affected by the storm.
Arborist: we warned the municipality
Arborist Renaldas Žilinskas told LRT.lt that as soon as he heard about the loss of the historic tree, he rushed to Vilnius to assess the damage.
According to the expert, his preliminary assessment is that the linden tree was not toppled due to root damage, but due to improper pruning, as evidenced by the tree’s fracture.
“The linden tree had been tended, not left unattended [...] But the tending was not very good. The municipality should comment on this,” said Žilinskas.
According to the arborist, the top of the tree had not been sufficiently thinned out, which meant that its centre of gravity was in the upper branches that acted as a lever during the storm.
“When the wind blows, it sways the top and breaks the tree,” he explained.
According to him, specialists tried to alert the authorities and invited experts from abroad, but the contractors did not admit any mistakes. This happened about two years ago. In addition, the tree was already decaying, old, had cavities and was hollow.
According to Žilinskas, it is likely that new shoots will grow from the stump, although this remains to be seen.
In a comment sent to LRT.lt, Vilnius City Municipality stressed that the centenarian linden tree had been reinforced with ropes and pruned last year. The storm broke the tree and it turned out to be completely rotten.
“Specialists are still assessing the situation and a decision will be made on what to do next,” said the municipality.
According to them, the oldest trees in Vilnius are being maintained by professional arborists.
“Whether the tree would not have broken if it had been cared for differently is difficult to answer at this point,” the municipality’s statement reads.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
