Baobab not out of the woods yet

MBOMBELA – Even though it looks like the baobab tree at Crossing Centre is thriving, it cannot yet be determined if it is on route to total recovery.

“It’s a gamble. It’s like asking a surgeon to guarantee a heart transplant. We’ll just have to wait and see,” horticulturist Mr Neil Fishwick told Lowvelder earlier this year.

This is after the well known, 60-year-old baobab had to be relocated early in September to accommodate the upgrades currently taking place at Crossing Centre.

Even though it was moved 25 metres, it was still a painstaking process to replant this estimated nine-ton tree. Thanks to a dedicated team of environmental experts, with the help of cranes and other heavy lifting equipment, the tree is now covered in foliage.

“It is actually more suited to drought that it is to heavy rains. Baobabs can store large volumes of water in their trunks, which ensures survival during the dry seasons,” Fishwick said.

However, the tree’s future survival is not a given.

“The relocation went extremely well and minimal damage was done to the tree, but at this stage it’s still surviving on its internal reserves, hence the green leaves, but that does not mean that the tree has survived the move.”

For the next two or three months they will keep a close eye and irrigate it frequently.

“At this stage, we will just have to wait and see. I will rest when the tree has completed re-rooted itself and we can start to fertilise it,” said Fishwick.

He added that it could live up to 500 years, and in some extreme cases baobabs can live up to a 1 000 years.