Installing New Toomer’s Trees – a Landscape Project Close to Our Hearts!
Recently, we were one of three alumni invited to bid on a new project for Auburn University: replace two of the beloved trees at Toomer’s Corner! One company invited was unable be a part of the project and the remaining two companies, Southern Scape in Huntsville, AL and Twelve Oaks Landscaping in Canton, GA, opted to join forces and presented AU with a proposal to install these trees together.
The oak tree installation took place yesterday, amid scores of dedicated Auburn Tiger fans and their camera phones. We were thrilled to do our part to keep the Toomer’s Corner legacy alive! Now, we have decades of experience in all aspects of landscaping and we’ve installed hundreds of trees on our journey, but these two trees are especially close to our hearts!
Our photos and videos are below and we also streamed numerous live videos during the event on our Facebook page!
A wonderful article from WHNT:
MADISON, Ala. – When the Auburn Oaks at Toomer’s Corner were replaced over the weekend, some love from the Tennessee Valley went into the ground with them.
Greg Shaw is a Madison city councilman, but his day job is running full-service landscaping company, Southern Scape. He and his wife went to Auburn as undergraduates. Recently, Auburn leaders gave them the chance to give back by asking them to be part of the team that transplanted new twin oaks at Toomer’s Corner.
“When they finally said, ‘Yeah, let’s do this,’ I couldn’t believe it,” he told WHNT News 19. “It was like a dream.”
Shaw’s Southern Scape team, which included other Auburn grads too, worked with Twelve Oaks Landscaping out of Georgia to remove the two trees at the corner and transplant the two new live oaks. He said it was fun to see it come together and see the spectators watching them work. But above all, it was about bringing new life to the corner.
“We really didn’t want to focus on the negativity of the trees that were declining,” he explained. “It was more of a happy time to get the good, green trees back and just change the whole corner.”
This experience means a lot to Shaw because of his own roots at the school.
“I always knew I wanted to do this,” Shaw said of landscaping. “I just fell in love with Auburn. So I went down there and got a horticulture degree, and graduated in 1996.”
Auburn gave him his start in the industry. He remembers his time with the old oaks as a student. “They were such a staple part of the whole campus. We got to roll them a lot then, so it was a great experience,” he commented.
He hopes soon, when the trees are deemed well enough, others can carry on the tradition thanks in part to his company’s work Saturday.
“I think just knowing that we could be a part of something that hopefully will be there,” said Shaw, “that our kids and grandkids can say ‘Hey, my dad, my granddad, planted these trees. We get to roll them in the future.”
Shaw said they did the job at low-cost to the university. That’s something that he was happy to do.
“The university helped me achieve my goals, so to be able to give back to the university just meant a lot to me,” he explained.
Contact us today – we can bring your landscape and outdoor living designs to life!
~The Southern Scape team
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Preparing to lift new Toomer’s Oak Tree #1
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First Toomer’s tree being removed
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First Toomer’s tree being removed
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Second Toomer’s tree being excavated
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Southern Scape, LLC
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New Toomer’s Oak tree #2 awaiting its turn
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New Toomer’s Oak Tree #1 going in the ground
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Daniel with Twelve Oaks Landscaping
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The entire scene at Toomer’s Corner
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Southern Scape owner, Greg Shaw and general manager, Denny Langston
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Southern Scape General Manager, Denny Langston
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Southern Scape owner, Greg Shaw, with Auburn Football Offensive Coordinator, Chip Lindsey