This past summer my good friend, Consulting Arborist Carl Cathcart took me to see an unusual weeping hemlock in a suburb of Boston. He had shown it to me earlier in the spring, when we got to see it from the road. This time, he had gotten permission from the owners to examine the tree close up, and so we were very fortunate to be able to stand under and next to it, measuring its stems, its height and width, and generally marveling at its astonishing beauty and size.
The tree’s crown measures approximately 33 -36’ high at its highest point, and approximately 63’ across at its widest spread. Carl noted that it is averaging 5 1/2 – 6″ of new needled growth all around.
Seven main stems grow from the base. Their sprawling nature made it impossible to get a diameter at breast height, but we were able to determine that at roughly 4 ½’ from the ground the stems ranged from 15″ in diameter to 31″ in diameter. At the tree’s base, we measured a girth of approximately 84″ — this was a tricky measurement to get as some stems grew close to horizontally from the base. We stood in awe at this magnificent specimen.
Take a look at these photos. We visited on a cloudy-bright day, the type of day typically good for photographing, but found so much contrast between shadow under the crown and light outside the crown that I resorted to black and white for some photos, the better to show the tree’s form.
It’s not often that we get to see such enormous and grand specimens in this part of the world. Carl and I appreciated the privilege we had been granted, and hope you enjoy seeing what we saw.
The hemlock from one angle. It sits on a large lawn where it has been allowed to grow in full sun and without competition from other trees.
A slightly different angle. Note Carl's legs under the canopy, just to the right of center.
Carl under the canopy. Note the size of the stems compared the the size of his torso.
Under the canopy.
Underneath, from a different angle.
Not much greenery inside the tree, but plenty outside to make this limb-framed cave.
Magnificent.
Deborah Howe
Taking Place In The Trees 
Fantastic. Thank you for sharing. Of course, I’m trying to figure out if I’ve seen it driving around Boston suburbs. It looks like a great deal of care has been afforded the tree. Any information from the owners about the history of the tree?
Wow, beautiful tree. You did an excellent job of photographing it. If you hadn’t used Carl for scale I wouldn’t have realized how big it is.
For your non-arborist readers, why are they called stems and not branches?