Swapping in for the tubelight-bedecked elm that’s been standing in the middle of Axelrad Beer Garden at the corner of Almeda Rd. and Alabama St.: this way-past-sapling Shumard red oak, carefully trucked, tipped, and dropped into place earlier this week, as captured in the Yakety-Sax-tracked video montage above. The changeover comes at the end of the original tree’s years-long shuffle toward death, per the bar’s telling: the group was advised to evict the tree when they first started setting up the space — as it was already old, and had been hit pretty hard by that tire-revealing 2011 drought — but opted to keep it around for a few years instead.
Following a recent lightning strike from which it would never quite recover, the tree finally lost enough branches that the bar owners opted to put it out of its misery:
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Co-founder Monte Large says the bar is now getting the new tree “acquainted with its new surroundings, and babying it as much as possible,” adding that the light tubes will probably make a return sooner or later.
Photos: Jamaal Vince (top); Axelrad Beer Garden (middle 2); Shane Barzilla (bottom)
Video: Axelrad Beer Garden
Ha, I’ll be there tonight, supposedly Thursday nights is when that chef that won Chopped is cooking food as a pop-up. I say we make it an impromptu awkward Swampy meetup without name tags. Let the suspicion guessing begin.
Let’s not harass the new tree with lights and sh*t
Years ago I had a similar swapout, except my not so dearly departed was a sycamore that just up and died, and the red oak that replaced it was maybe half the size of Axelrad’s. Nevertheless, after a full summer of giving it a long slow drip every day or two it took good root, and is now a very pleasant shade tree. Here’s hoping that their experience is as good.
I also have Shumard in my yard. Nice tree, vigorous grower and good for smaller spaces with no room for a live oak.
It’s “Almeda”, not “Alameda”.
More creeping California-ization! ;) Thanks William, that’s been fixed!
common: Crap, I happened to be in Houston last Thrusday (flew out at 11pm) so I could have made it by. Though since I use my own name I don’t think my identity is well protected.