The City of Lakeland will soon say goodbye to a pair of its oldest trees and most beloved trees, the trees known together as "Lover’s Oak."

  • "Lover's Oak" believed to be more than 200 years old
  • Trees determined to be decaying inside
  • Removal to be completed in September

Located at the corner of Success Avenue and Lake Morton Drive, near the city’s downtown, Lover's Oak is one of the Lakeland's most enduring landmarks.  Parks and Recreation Director Bob Donahay believes the trees to be more than 200 years old.

He said crews won’t know for sure until the trees come down.
 
For families living on Success Avenue, the trees hold a lot of memories.
 
"For our area I'd say this is one of the most significant trees,” said Kirk Eich, who lives nearby. "I'm kind of a little weird -- when I walk by it, I touch the tree."
 
Eich said he has family photos under the trees that he’ll never be able to replicate.
 
"I'm a little sad, but life is about moving forward and you can't fret over everything,” Eich said.

Photo courtesy of Kirk Eich.
 
Eich’s neighbor Tosh Sargeant even has an old postcard of it in his home.
 
"That's from the 1930s," Sargeant said, pointing to the postcard. "This was used in for tourism to bring people to Lakeland."
 
For his kids, he said the trees are somewhat of a playground.
 
"My kids play on the tree often,” Sargeant said.  “They like to climb up into the trunks where the two trees meet. So they will be … they'll be devastated when it comes down, but I understand why they are cutting it."
 
Donahay said it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

After one of its limbs fell onto a car this summer, he said his arborists examined "Lover's Oak." They determined the trees should be cut down, and later an outside consultant concurred with that determination.

Donahay said the tree was unbalanced and decaying inside. He said it would be a liability for the city if it didn’t cut it down.
 
"We don’t want to do this. I want to stress that," Donahay said. "But we feel like we have to do it for safety and security of our residents."
 
Donahay said the tree will be cut down sometime in September. He said his staff is looking into whether another tree can be planted to replace it.

He also wants to give slivers of the tree as keepsakes to people who request them.