Looking south on the Periwinkle Bikepath behind Lowe’s on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 14, 2025.
Some time last week, an Albany oak tree gave up its struggle against weather and old age. The tree leaned over and died.
The structure it leaned on is the brick wall between Lowe’s home improvement center and the north extension of the Periwinkle Bikepath.
The wall, repeatedly covered with graffiti and cleaned up, only to be covered again, proved one thing: It’s strong, sturdy enough to hold up the heavy branches of an old oak.
I first heard about this on Wednesday from Bill Kapaun, a fellow bike rider who often comments on this site. On Friday I went to take a look and found the bike path blocked by parks department barricades and caution tape.
Sunday afternoon I revisited the place. The tape had been torn and the barricades tossed aside. But the branches of the oak were still hanging over the path.
The tree might have been dead already when it fell. I snapped off a little twig Sunday, and it was bone dry.
This oak may have been left over from what used to be known as the Hackleman Grove, named after one of Albany’s founding families.
This was a stand of trees off Oak Street. Eight of those oaks were felled to make room for the then-planned Lowe’s development. By the time the store was built in 2015, the plans had been scaled back and much of this grove might have been saved if it hadn’t already been cut.
In 2014, wood from the Hackleman oaks had been donated to a program that provided material for high school shop classes. In November that year I wrote a story promoting a benefit auction of beautiful chairs made from that wood.
What happens to the oak that fell over last week? I don’t know, but first Lowe’s or somebody will have to get it off that wall. (hh)
This is the fallen oak on Lowe’s side of the wall on Sunday afternoon.
Here’s what was left Sunday of the barricades and caution tape that were intended to keep people away from where the tree fell across the path last week.
When were the original Hackleman Oaks planted? Sad to lose such a stately tree. Hopefully they replace it with a good shade tree.
When a tree falls, or a branch of a tree falls, the law says it is an “Act of God.” That is the actual legal term for that. If the tree falls on someone else’s property, other than the property where the tree is planted and growing, the clean-up for the damage is done by each person that has damage from the falling tree. I know first hand. This just happened to me, and the Oak Tree was on my neighbor’s property, but I have had to pay a lot of money for repairs for the damage. The trees are falling in large part because of damage from years of long droughts due to global climate change.
So paving over several acres on the uphill side didn’t deprive it of water?
There’s no “uphill side” where I live. I don’t know if you are directing your comment to me, or to Hasso. To Hasso, I hope.
Apparently you don’t know what you are commenting on? There’s a couple pictures of a dead tree along with THIS STORY that Hasso has written. You blamed global warming for a dead tree….. See the connection?
This is the 2nd time you have commented about the Lowes/bike path area without having a clue about the lay of the land.
Well we all know that global warming is the cause of everything bad, couldn’t possible be caused by anything else.