Woodman, Spare That Tree!
What do you do when a tree reaches the end of its useful life? The answer, usually, is to remove it. However, a different solution was reached in this case. The Garden's patron, Mrs Lucinda Flemer, had seen on her travels in India a tree in which many bells had been hung. She was determined to do the same at Kingsbrae Garden.
The tree is located on open ground just below the Garden Café and overlooking Passamaquoddy Bay and Ministers Island. Currently under initial development, this area will eventually become a sculpture garden. The tree was hung with a number of different sizes of "cow bells", to whose clappers have been tied thin strips of copper sheeting. The copper sheen of the bells blends well with bark and bare wood of the tree, and in a breeze there is the pleasant sound of tinkling bells.
