New, 'Stately' Oak Trees Taking Root At Tulsa's Woodward Park

Tulsa's Woodward Park will be closed during part of the day Monday and Tuesday as the park rehab continues. The temporary closings are needed as heavy equipment is used to plant 15 large trees – some up to 25 feet tall.

The park has felt the effects of ice storms and intense heat and suffered from poor drainage. So it's getting some new attention, and part of that includes new trees.

Crews were out on a cold December day, doing something they hope will warm the hearts of people who appreciate the beauty of Tulsa's Woodward Park.

Most of the trees will go on the park's slope facing 21st and Peoria Avenue that is getting a makeover due to erosion, but a few will replace trees damaged in Tulsa's ice storm.

The park lost 181 trees in the 2007 ice storm. Several others had to be removed as part of hillside stabilization efforts.

"These trees are going to be very large and will make an instant impact to the newly planted azalea area as well as five other locations in the park," said Maureen Turner, Operations Manager in the Streets & Stormwater Department.

7/6/2011 Related Story: Tulsa's Woodward Park Gets A Makeover To Fight Erosion

Turner said the planting which is no easy task, considering the trees are about 25 feet tall, and each weigh more than 5,500 pounds.

"Within the parks department, we have not tackled trees this large before," she said.

The trees were donated by the Tulsa Beautification Foundation and will replace others that had to be removed when safety concerns prompted a hillside stabilization plan. Some will take the place of trees damaged during Tulsa's 2007 ice storm, when 181 trees were damaged or lost at the park.

"We've had extreme lows; we've had extreme highs," she said "We've had massive rains and then no rain and everything."

As part of the hillside renovation work, the city also removed many aging azaleas on the scenic slope and replaced them with 1,100 new bushes that bloom longer and are more insect and disease tolerant.

Turner says the new trees will fit in beautifully.

"They're going to be a great big stately oak tree. They're going to be absolutely gorgeous," she said.

Because of their size, it will take crews a couple of days to plant all of the trees, but the goal is for folks to enjoy them for decades to come.

"I just hope that they take away that maybe it doesn't look quite so new and that the large trees will give it a stately presence right away. And I just hope that they say it's really pretty, and we did good," Turner said.

"This final part of the project is definitely a wonderful gift for the citizens of Tulsa from the generosity of the Tulsa Beautification Foundation."