North Myrtle Beach Tree City Board Selects Tree of the Month for April
The North Myrtle Beach Tree City Board selected a transplanted live oak tree as its Tree of the Month for April.
The live oak is located at Barefoot Landing in the children’s playground between Lulu’s Restaurant and the Crooked Hammock.
Some years ago, when the owner of Barefoot Landing initiated internal discussions about redeveloping the property, six mature live oak trees with sprawling branches were located in the far corners of the parking lot. They were rarely seen by patrons.
The redevelopment vision for Barefoot Landing was to “combine the character and authenticity of historic main streets with the natural beauty of the waterfront in a reimagined shopping and dining experience that was distinctly coastal Carolina.”
Many discussions took place about potential iconic features that would anchor the redeveloped property and help tell the story. Some thought of adding fountains and sculptures, and others favored water features. It soon became apparent to all that those discussions always seemed to come back to trees. When all agreed that trees should be the iconic focal point, the challenge became how and where to get mature trees that would provide the size and grandeur necessary to achieve the overall design goal. Then came the idea that seemed impossible at the time, “Let’s move the existing live oak trees from the Barefoot Landing parking lot to the waterfront.”
In December 2017, work began to relocate the six historic live oak trees, the eldest of which is about 200 years old and stands 75-feet tall with a 110-foot canopy.
It took about five months to move all of the trees to what is now Dockside Village in Barefoot Landing. Dockside Village is a walkable restaurant area with an oversized lawn, a nature-inspired playground, and an amphitheater.
Four of the six transplanted live oak trees line the Intracoastal Waterway, a fifth is located on the beach that was created at LuLu’s Restaurant, and the sixth live oak, the April Tree of the Month, sits in the center of the children’s playground.
Through an extensive program of preservation, the trees are thriving in their new locations. Indeed, they look and feel so natural in their new locations that Barefoot Landing patrons often do not believe that the trees were not always there.
We congratulate Barefoot Landing on this remarkable tree preservation success.
To view a video of part of the massive tree-moving process, please click here:
https://youtu.be/06YJniWunMc
Property owners and developers interested in finding more about how they can preserve trees on their property are invited to contact the North Myrtle Beach Tree City Board at nmbtreeboard@nmb.us.
The Tree of the Month program began in 2010 as a way to recognize preserved trees within the city limits. It also provides a platform to remind people of the benefits and importance that trees offer in our everyday lives.
If you think you have the biggest, prettiest, or most unusual tree in North Myrtle Beach, or that your tree has a unique story attached to it, the Tree City Board encourages you to contact Parks & Grounds Superintendent Jim Grainger at (843) 280‐5571 or via email at nmbtreeboard@nmb.us