By John and Marsha Mekisich
The morning of Saturday November 25th in Hayward, Ca. started out clear and cool. The time had come at last after several months of planning to move a bea
utiful 100 year old Blue Atlas Cedar from Grove Way Bonsai Nursery to its new home at the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt.
The tree started out as a Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica) grafted to Deodar Cedar (Cedrus deodara) root stock planted in a 15 gallon nursery container. Years later it was removed from the nursery container, planted in the ground and allowed to develop for an additional 35 years. Taken up and potted again in 1989, the tree had by then grown into a majestic specimen.
This amazing specimen tree was acquired by Johnny Uchida in 1991 from Jimmy Imadomi’s Bonsai nursery. Johnny worked for Mr. Imadomi years earlier before branching out on his own. Imadomi Bonsai nursery opened in Hayward in the early 1950’s and Johnny started working there in 1958. The two men developed a friendship that continues to this day, Jimmy is now in his 90s. Jimmy was one of the original founders of Yamato Bonsai Kai becoming their original sensei, a position Johnny took over in 1971 and still holds today. Johnny moved the then 14 foot tall tree himself using only a small trailer. People said he would need to cut the top by a foot for transport. Johnny exclaimed, if that is so then I cannot buy the tree as it would be ruined. Johnny figured a way to make it happen by using a very low trailer barely clearing the overpass and electrical wires by inches. Fortunately he only had to travel within to
wn to his nursery. Driving very slow and carefully, Johnny was able to get the tree safely to his nursery where it graced his entrance for 23 years.
After two plus decades of painstakingly caring for the tree, Johnny felt the time had come for him to donate his old friend to the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt where it could be admired by the Garden’s thousands of yearly visitors from around the world. He approached
his good friend Seiji Shiba. Seiji contacted former BGLM Chairman and current Garden Master, Gordon Deeg, who approached BGLM curator and sensei Kathy Shaner. Kathy overwhelmingly said “yes” as she too knew this tree well. Everyone was excited for the arrival, but how would it be moved from Grove Way in Hayward, up the freeway and into the BGLM garden?
The tree is now roughly 15.6 feet tall planted in a rough 4’x4’x4’ wooden container, our weight guesstimate was around 1,000 pounds. Relocating this tree was clearly going to be a job for professionals! Aside from the weight, the tree was too tall to pass under overpasses. Howard Correa was the mastermind behind planning the move and was joined by friends Tim Smith and Ronnie Macaire who as a team performed the move. The use of a tractor trailer, flatbed trailer and Gradall loader were donated by Globe Bay Area Forklift in San Francisco where Tim works.
Howard, Tim and Ronnie took the time to carefully secure the tree to the forklift using chains and straps. Tim then drove the loader onto the trailer tree first. In order to clear overpasses the tree had to be tilted approximately 65 degrees so the load was less than 14 feet tall. To brace the front of the tree they built a support structure out of wood carefully padding the trunk with burlap padding. Howard then cut some scrap lumber to fit inside the pot around the trunk to contain the dirt and braced it accordingly. It was truly a treat to watch how much work and attention to detail they put into getting the tree loaded. Now after approximately two hours it was time to drive the tree to Oakland.
As many of us know, Lake Merritt is a popular weekend destination. People were stopping to take pictures of the tree while it was still loaded. The team took every bit as much
care offloading and positioning the tree in its new home just outside the Garden’s front gate. These gentlemen made a very difficult job look easy and 3 ½ hours later the journey was completed. We cannot thank Howard, Tim and Ronnie enough for graciously donating their time and labor to make this move possible, and for Johnny Uchida’s generous donation to the Bonsai Collection at Lake Merritt.
This is only phase one. Come visit the Garden observe the grand Cedar as it settles in to its new home.