Auburn University Professor of Horticulture Dr. Gary Keever said the grim prognosis of the two poisoned Toomer’s Oaks on the corner of College Street and Magnolia Avenue should probably be realized in the next few months, though he didn’t give up hope for their survival.
The Toomer’s Oaks were poisoned with the strong herbicide Spike 80 late last year. Former Texas highway patrolman and Dadeville resident Harvey Updyke was arrested in May and charged with criminal mischief and desecration of a venerable object.
The trial for Updyke, a 63-year-old professed Alabama football fan, is scheduled for an unspecified time in 2012. A status hearing is scheduled in January.
Auburn University released before-and-after images of the trees Wednesday. One was taken Oct. 14, the day before the Auburn-Florida football game. The other was taken sometime last fall before the poisoning.
The difference in the images is startling.
“Look up close (to other oaks) and you can see a dense mass of foliage and acorns,” he said. “That’s the way the trees should look. But their food is depleted, and they are getting weaker. We’ll see what happens after the winter.”
A more detailed analysis of the trees’ prognosis is expected to be released by Auburn soon.
See the images here:
http://www2.oanow.com/news/2011/nov/02/toomers-oaks-showing-signs-stress-ar-2645489/