Auburn fans will be able to roll the trees at Toomer’s Corner once again this season. The new oaks have been declared healthy enough for rolling, Gary Keever, professor of horticulture at Auburn University told OANow.com Wednesday.
“The rolling itself doesn’t have any impact on the trees,” Keever said. “We’re going to remove the toilet paper by hand. There should be a minimal, if any, impact in contrast to the fire hoses that we used to use.”
“We certainly don’t want to experience the toilet paper being lit on fire,” Keever said. “The tree, to a degree, is still stressed from transplanting, and if under drought conditions and the paper was lit on fire, it would be an additional stress that could be potentially harmful to the trees.”
The current oaks were planted in 2014 to replace the pair poisoned by Alabama fan Harvey Updyke in 2010. One of the replacement trees failed to take hold and was replaced by a live oak from Florida, according to a CBSSports.com.
Jason covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
