ROSWELL, Ga. — Gus Hadorn, board member of Friends of Mimosa Hall and Gardens, pointed out several large specimen trees along the historic property’s driveway, trees threatened by an oncoming city project.
Their root systems lay in the path of a new, wider driveway at Mimosa Hall, intended to accommodate firetrucks. Hadorn said the Friends group hired an independent arborist who said if the root system of any tree is damaged by at least 30 percent, it will be lost.
Friends of Mimosa Hall and Gardens was formed in 2017, the same year the city purchased the 9-acre property, with the mission to champion the sustainable preservation of the grounds.
“Those firetrucks are pretty big, and I think the width and the weight of the vehicle is their issue,” Hadorn said. “We understand that. We’re just wanting it to be done in a way that’s as least destructive as possible. I mean, some things are going to be lost for sure.”
Some say that one tree embellishing the drive is likely the biggest of its kind in the country.
A 49-foot saucer magnolia, known for its fragrant pink and white flowers that blossom in the early spring, sits close to Mimosa Hall, leaning over and twisted, reaching toward the sky. Its figure the result of a lightning strike.
It has been named a “Georgia Champion Tree” by the Georgia Forestry Commission, meeting several criteria, including having a stem or trunk at least 9.5 inches in circumference. Qualifying trees must also be native or naturalized in the continental United States.
The historic Mimosa Hall and Gardens boasts over 200 trees, both native and exotic. Around 20 were valued at more than $25,000 in the city’s 2018 tree survey. Another remarkable tree, and the fifth most expensive, is the property’s lone dawn redwood, also situated close to the gravel drive.
Steven Malone, Roswell’s…
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