by Amy Curry, Executive Director
October 29, 2024
Twelve years ago, residents of NJ and states all along the eastern seaboard witnessed some of the most devastating storm damage many had ever experienced. At Acorn Hall, the once impenetrable canopy of green found beyond the backyard gardens was now wide open to the clear blue, late-fall sky. A “one-in-a-hundred-year-storm,” Superstorm Sandy, forever changed our local landscape, including one of the last urban forests in Morristown.
While breathing a sigh of relief that Acorn Hall, its carriage house and 240-year-old Northern Red Oak survived, we, like many, grappled with the loss of trees and the damage it created. Though unable to replace the centuries-old hardwood trees that once covered the back three acres of the property, over the course of nearly three years, the remnants of more than 250 trees were removed. A system of pipes was buried in the now-compacted soil so it might once again drain like it had when only horse and plow had worked the land. The annual rye grass immediately planted to help prevent soil erosion also helped keep some of non-native plants at bay. This was not enough, however, to discourage aggressive invasive plants, such as knotwood, multiflora rose, porcelain berry, and garlic mustard, which readily took advantage of the disturbed soil and sudden access to direct sunlight. Adding insult to injury, most trees left standing were ash and terminally afflicted by the Emerald Ash Borer, necessitating that they be felled (a process which was completed this past winter).
Despite these challenges, ongoing management over the last six years has significantly decreased the amount of knotwood and porcelain berry. This past spring, volunteers worked diligently to remove stands of garlic mustard and positive signs of recovery are starting to be found. Protected from deer by an 8’ perimeter fence, native seedlings and understory plants are emerging, and several trees recently planted have successfully endured. We’re hopeful they’ll soon be joined by hundreds of oak seedlings, the result of spreading thousands of acorns around the property from this year’s mast crop.
Superstorm Sandy changed so much all around NJ, both on the landscape and within the minds of residents. Now over a decade removed, some of the area’s slowest to recover are embracing their new environment and hopefully charting their own course for the next hundred years. Here at the Hall, reviving the lost hardwood forest will remain a battle, but hopefully a winnable battle, for years to come.
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