Starting September 30, the trees along the main driveway began being preserved. This process included having more trees planted along with them.
“Dr. [Joanne] Boyle commissioned this study to be done about a year ago. It was last October it was to be completed on the trees at Seton Hill,” Barbara Hinkle, the vice president for administration and registrar, said. “I know lightning struck one of the trees about a year ago and it had to be taken out.”
The university had no one that knew anything about taking care of trees, according to Hinkle.
Seton Hill then hired Van Yahres Associates from Charlottesville, Va. who specializes in arboricultural planning. Van Yahres took inventory of the trees, classifying them into groups and identifying which types of trees they are.
The trees are London plane trees, which were first planted in the late 1800s when the Sisters of Charity founded Seton Hill. One tree was planted along the road for each sister at that time. Since the trees have so much history, the university wants to preserve that and keep the trees growing.
“To replace anything is a challenge,” Hinkle said, “You want to keep that history.”