Harrodsburg Road developers try to preserve massive bur oak, which may be 500 years old

This large bur oak is being protected by developers as they are building new houses and apartments near Harrodsburg Road and Military Pike. The tree is thought to be more than 300 years old. HERALD-LEADER|BuyPhoto

A towering bur oak, more than 300 years old, is dominating the eastern skyline just off Harrodsburg Road at Military Pike in Lexington, now that crews have removed undergrowth that hid much of it.

"I gasped the first time I saw it after the brush was cleared off," said tree physiologist Tom Kimmerer, who wrote a protection plan for the tree. "It's absolutely stunning, way taller than anything else around here."

Kimmerer added that he thinks the bur oak could be almost 500 years old, not the 300-odd years often estimated.

The venerable tree has been at the center of preservation disputes several times over the past several years.

The most recent one was last year, when some Lexington residents tried to block a Ball Homes plan for apartments and single-family homes off Harrodsburg Road because they feared the old tree would suffer. Ball Homes insisted that it would make sure the tree was protected, and the Urban County Council ultimately approved its development plan.

Now, the company is getting started on development. It also is moving ahead with plans to protect the tree, which Kimmerer was commissioned to develop.

Kimmerer said the first steps included having Big Beaver Tree Co. remove the brush and vines that had grown up around the foot of the tree. Some old, dead branches also were removed from the bur oak itself, he said.

"The tree now has been fenced off very carefully, and no construction equipment will be allowed inside the fence," Kimmerer said last week. "Ball Homes is being careful to make sure all the contractors know they may not violate the fence."

The next step will be a thick layer of paper, covered by mulch, to kill and keep down weeds in a three-quarter-acre area around the trunk of the huge tree.

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Harrodsburg Road developers try to preserve massive bur oak, which may be 500 years old