Medicine for a linden tree

There are 25 trees in Kyiv that are several centuries old. One of the oldest and most interesting ones from the point of view of tourism is a nearly 500-year-old linden growing near the ruins of the Church of the Tithes (Desiatynna tserkva). According to legend, it was planted by Petro Mohyla, the founder of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. But historians are still debating this question: legends and tales protect the land, they say, so they are not against poeticizing historical monuments.

In the last few years the state of this linden has worsened because of the hollow in its trunk, which is large enough to fit a small child. Volodymyr Boiko, the director of the Kyiv Ecological-Cultural Center, who has organized first aid for the tree, say that the hollow poses the biggest threat: “The hollow has to be filled. Since the linden has a wide crown, its trunk may fall apart from a strong wind, and the linden will die,” he told The Day.

“Unfortunately, Ukraine has little experience with filling trees and this method is rarely practiced here. The only tool used in Ukraine for healing old trees is the saw. Because of this foolish approach Kyiv has already lost many ancient trees: in its time Kyivzelenbud did not give us authorization to save many of them, and they were simply cut down. The last time this linden was filled was in the 1970s, but you have to do this once every 5 or 10 years because trees, like human beings, need constant care. They get sick, like people. A journalist from 1+1 Channel, who requested anonymity, gave us 300 dollars for ‘repairs’ after she learned that filling trees is a usual procedure in Europe.’”

Several hundred dollars is not a large sum of money for the Kyiv Municipal Administration to finance the rescue of a historical tree. A representative of the City State Administration has given assurances that 25,000 hryvnias have been budgeted for saving old trees, compared to the 14,000 allotted last year. This year the city plans to cure 30 trees. But it is a mystery why “there was no time” to save the linden.

The director of the ecological-cultural center says that if you take care of old trees properly, they can survive for several centuries longer. According to the ecologists’ data, the linden has a good rhizome, which is why it is not drying out. The tree should be fenced in to prevent tourists from hanging ribbons and kerchiefs “with wishes” on its branches. Such innocent fun causes damage to the tree, especially if fishing lines, not kerchiefs are hung; this causes the tree to dry out. The fence around the linden will not cost much, approximately 2,000-3,000 hryvnias, Boreiko says. But somebody has to supply these funds.