GEORGETOWN — Mark Stavish moved to 20 acres in Georgetown more than two decades ago with a dream of someday opening an arboretum there. For years, he strategically cultivated plants and groomed trails.
Like his beloved rhododendrons, which branch out ever so slowly as years turn into decades, his vision inched closer to reality.
Now, two weeks before he planned to hold a grand opening, Stavish’s dream lies crushed beneath huge trees felled during a storm that devastated his property last week.
“I expected some (of the smaller trees to be damaged), but the huge oak trees?” he said. “For all I know, my back 15 acres don’t even exist. I can’t even get back to them.”
Stavish said Monday that, despite days of struggling to clear the debris, he has yet to get into his home on the property. And he doesn’t know when electricity will be restored.
Help cleaning up
Meanwhile, he recruits friends and volunteers to join him in the tedious and delicate task of clearing away the downed trees, all the while trying to salvage as many marketable plants as he can. Stavish said he can’t use skidders to remove the huge trees because the equipment will destroy what’s left of the valuable plant life and landscape.
“With the economy so bad, it couldn’t be a worse time for a loss of income,” he said.
Stavish said he would trade plants and firewood for help cleaning his property. He said chain saws and manpower are needed. But as he surveyed the chaos Monday, he admitted: “I don’t know where to start.”
He said he was so proud of his soon-to-open arboretum because of its reliance on natural spaces and plant layouts.
“It looked like nature put it here, and now nature destroyed it,” he said. “But I’m not giving up on my plans. This is just an incredible setback.”
To volunteer help, contact Stavish at
[email protected] or write to the Eastern Plant home office at 660A Berrys Mill Road, West Bath, ME 04530.
