Occasionally, Meigan Alexander sees the “big green machine” lurking around Charlotte.
The machine is a tree excavator, usually working in the shadow of a tree planted a century ago. Once the machine has sucked in the shade-giving limbs and age-ringed trunk, a new development rises from the mulch.
It’s one of Alexander’s concerns about Charlotte’s growth: older homes, historic buildings and mature trees are often removed to make way for a newer Charlotte…