Story update, Nov. 10, 2020: The sixth and final phase of replacing aging trees along the front of the Furman University campus will begin Nov. 30, 2020. Crews will remove the 50 to 60-year-old oaks lining Furman Mall from Daniel Chapel to the main entrance.

(Click to enlarge.) Stands of dead and dying trees around campus are being replaced in stages, starting with trees around the main entrance in 2014.

By the second week of January, when students begin returning to campus, the existing oaks will be removed and many of the news trees will be planted in their place. Smaller landscaping projects, such as planting sod and installing irrigation, will continue into March.

See the 2019 story below for more details.

The next step of a multi-year project to remove aging and dying trees around the Furman University campus is scheduled to begin in mid-December, when 40 oaks lining the mall from PAC circle to the chapel will be replaced.

The lifespans of the current trees – pin, water and willow oaks planted in between 1956 and 1958, when the then-new campus was not far removed from cotton and corn fields – are relatively short among the hundreds of oak species. The trunks of these oaks on campus have hollowed and large limbs have started breaking and crashing, causing safety hazards to the many drivers, walkers and runners who pass beneath their canopy, says Jeff Redderson, assistant vice president of Facilities and Campus Services.

Many of the trees are