Tag Archives: trees

Stumps appear along Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave as Seattle needs help to quickly grow its tree canopy to 30%

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The nearly 50-year-old Norway Maples were dead and dying (Image: CHS)

As Seattle hopes to help cool its streets and sidewalks against global warming by achieving 30% tree-canopy coverage across every area of the city in the next twelve years, the new stumps along Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave are an example of the challenge — and the opportunity — in the numbers.

The old Norway Maples just removed from the sidewalk along the Capitol Hill Kaiser Permanente campus were dead — and had been for years. Planted in 1977, the maples were maintained by the Seattle Department of Transportation. Coming up on 50 years later, most of the 15th Ave trees were completely dead with branches and bark falling off. A few hangers-on were in serious decline.

SDOT says it hired a contractor to remove the old maples “due to safety concerns, particularly because they were adjacent to Metro bus lines.”

SDOT says there is no evidence “porous paving contributed to the treesā€™ decline” as the city’s tree wells have been filled in recent years to prevent injuries to pedestrians and people using tree-lined sidewalks.

Despite the city’s ambitious goals of quickly establishing a 30% tree canopy cover, there is no plan for re-planting. But there will be a first step. Continue reading →

The fallen willow at Streissguth Gardens

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The fallen willow (Image: CHS)

The maple bench (Image: CHS)

By Domenic Strazzabosco

Streissguth Gardens, on the sloping hillside between 10th Ave and Broadway, lost an iconic willow tree after a wet snowfall this winter. The willow, seemingly weighed down by the snow, fell westward and perpendicular across two of the parkā€™s paths of thin, winding trails.

ā€œItā€™s kind of bizarre. I never really thought about losing it until it came down,ā€ said Ben Streissguth, who describes himself, unofficially, as the director of the gardens. Streissguthā€™s parentsā€™ personal gardens were the beginning stages of what constitutes the one-acre space today, and though itā€™s unknown how old the tree was, he can remember it as far back as his teenage years. Based on Streissguthā€™s memory, photos and size of the tree, it is estimated that it was around 80 years old.

Streissguth, his wife and a few others, including some community members, have been working to do as much cleanup of the willow and surrounding area as possible. He estimates theyā€™ve spent about 120 hours cleaning up and restoring the space as best they can. Further work will have to be done by Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Just three weeks after the willow fell, a maple toward the southwest side of the park toppled, too. Streissguth has taken what he can of the trees to work on the gardens. So far, thereā€™s a new bench beneath the top of where the willow fell, made out of maple, while the pathway above where the willow stood is being reconstructed using slices of the felled maple. Instead of walking behind it, you can now look down at the willowā€™s massive root structure. Other projects include creating a wattle fence to create a stronger border between one of the trails and the vegetation running up to it, and edging portions of other trails with willow branches.

Though what will happen to the tree and the space left behind has yet to be decided, the Capitol Hill community around the garden has found ways to mourn the tree, often sharing different connections residents each had with it. Continue reading →

Take the Capitol Hill Street Tree Survey

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The city is conducting a survey about adding more street trees in areas of Seattle with less than 25% canopy coverage. That includes Capitol Hill which has only about 15.02% coverage, the city says.

Seattle has a goal to achieve at least 30% tree-canopy coverage equitably distributed across the city by 2037. “For many Seattleites, trees are more than just part of the scenery ā€“ theyā€™re an essential part of our day-to-day life,” the Seattle Department of Transportation says. “They provide environmental, health, and social benefits, making our communities more sustainable and vibrant. Street trees are important because they improve our public spaces.” Continue reading →

Pikes/Pines | No, you can’t (entirely) blame your Capitol Hill pollen allergies on botanical sexism

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Sunflowers need insect visitors to move their pollen around and many bees are happy to oblige! (Image: Brendan McGarry)

Dandelions and their relatives are examples of monoecious plants that have both male and female parts contained within a single flower (though their flowerheads are actually made up of many individual flowers). (Image: Brendan McGarry)

I spend a lot of time outside. I tend the garden, I walk the dog, I nerd out on nature, and I even manage to sit still and relax occasionally.

These are all activities I am grateful to be able to enjoy because I know that not everyone has the same opportunities, nor can they enjoy certain seasons with the same zest.

Unlike a few of my close friends, I donā€™t have seasonal allergies, and have never had to look at pollen counts or use medications to simply struggle through each day. (Though woe is me, I am fairly certain I am allergic to hops.) According to the CDC, around a quarter of the adults in the US have the seasonal allergy rhinitis or hay fever, which is caused by the bodyā€™s reaction to plant pollen – so itā€™s not unreasonable that those of you reading donā€™t share my joy right now.

Most plants produce pollen and all pollen is produced for one purpose – to transfer male gametes from one reproductive structure to another, receptive one. You might read this as ā€œIā€™m allergic to plant sperm,ā€ but thatā€™s not quite accurate. Pollen are gametophytes that generate sperm once they come into contact with an embryo sac – be that on the pistil of a flowering plant or the female cone of a gymnosperm (e.g. conifers). Just like the plants that produce them, pollen is extremely varied, the better to be conveyed by a variety of animals, as well as wind, water, or a mixture of all of the above. (If you really want to get into the weeds, both pollen and the embryo sac can be considered separate organisms from their parents but letā€™s not complicate things.)

A microscopic view of the pollen grains from a diversity of plants reveals a hallucinatory range of shapes, colors, and textures that help transport them between plants and protect them from getting gobbled up or destroyed by the environment. (Pollen can last for days, where raw sperm would not last hours in most conditions.) Animal pollinated plants tend to have larger, stickier, and more protein rich pollen to cling to pollinators and offer them a reward, while wind pollinated plants tend to have lighter, loftable pollen, (some even have air sacs) to balloon them as far as possible.

A couple weeks ago, Justin (our illustrious leader here at CHS), sent me an unreal looking image of a Georgia skyline filled with pollen. Accompanying this (real) image (from six years ago) were comments blaming the highest pollen count in state history on cities planting only male trees. I am often late to the party on social media happenings (Justin once asked me a question on Twitter and I finally responded a year later and didnā€™t even realize how tardy I was), but apparently a few years ago the idea of botanical sexism hit TikTok by storm after a single video rested the weight of all pollen allergies on the shoulders of city planners, horticulturalists, and arborists ā€œonly planting male trees.ā€ The idea is that these male trees spew forth their pollen everywhere, and with nowhere to go, they just go forth to clog up our bodies with histamines.

Botanical sexism is a term coined by a researcher and horticulturalist named Tom Ogren, who theorized that because of a supposed preferential planting of male plants in landscaping, we are having more societal issues with pollen allergies. At surface value, this sounds pretty reasonable, and itā€™s true that in some cases, tree varieties bred to not produce fruit or seeds (remember the cherries of last monthā€™s Pikes/Pines) or only clones of male trees get planted in urban spaces. Gingko trees are a good example of this, because female gingkos are almost never planted as street trees or in ornamental gardens because their prodigious fruit production is frankly horrendous, generating rotting piles of inedible fruit that can become health hazards. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Enjoy the blossoms of the Akebono Cherry trees of 21st Ave E

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Far from the crowds wandering the quad at the University of Washington is a Capitol Hill street that also blooms beautifully in spring.

21st Ave E — just north of Aloha and south of Prospect — is home to one of Capitol Hill’s best blooms of cherry blossoms. The old trees line a couple blocks and draw small crowds of their own to swirl feet through the pink and white drifts and take pictures. Continue reading →

A sixth story and a prized European hornbeam tree — Neighbors have their say on extra height for 15th Ave QFC redevelopment project

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There are more powerful actions they can take but neighbors opposing a proposed sixth floor on the mixed-use development being planned for the old QFC block of Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E got their say Wednesday night. Several neighbors supporting the plan and increased housing options on the busy commercial street on the edge of Capitol HIll’s single family-style house core also spoke up.

Around thirty residents voiced their opinions on the proposed mixed-use development as planners from the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection took notes and coordinated the brisk Wednesday evening meeting.

While many criticized the idea of a six-story building rising above 15th Ave E, there were also plenty of attendees during the virtual meeting who expressed support for increasing housing density amid the city’s ongoing housing and affordability crisis.

ā€œI live less than a mile from this proposed project. I think this is a great project. It should be approved as proposed,ā€ said one. ā€œThis project is located in, and will add to an already existing business area.ā€

Capitol Hill developerĀ Hunters Capital — whose mixed-use development up the street replacing the old Hilltop Service Station will wrap up construction later this year — is requesting a departure from area zoning for its QFC project to allow an extra sixth story of height. Continue reading →

On 15th Ave E, development faces debate over plans for a sixth story

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The people have spoken. A new mixed-use development set to rise on the block currently home to the empty 15th Ave E QFC, a collection of businesses including a Rudy’s Barbershop and local favorite ShopRite, and a handful of apartments will be the subject of a public meeting later this month after a petition drive and neighbors opposing the project’s plans for a sixth floor gathered signatures to force the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections hearing.

“Iā€™m concerned about the impact of such a huge structure on the small businesses and parking in this neighborhood,” one of the signees writes.

“I oppose a building of 6 stories,” wrote another.

The special meeting comes as a new addition to the months and years of planning required for Capitol Hill firm Hunters Capital to develop the property which also must pass through the city’s design review process.

The project is planned for the busy 15th Ave E commercial strip on the edge of Capitol Hill’s northeast core of valuable single family-style homes.

CHS reported here in October as the proposal was approved by the East Review BoardĀ in its early design guidance phase. Hunters and the Runberg Architecture Group are proposing to transform the old QFC block into new apartments, businesses, and plaza space they say would give the neighborhood a vibrant streetscape with a mix of trees old and new, small retail spaces to add to the streetā€™s eclectic mix, and 170 new homes. Continue reading →

Pikes/Pines | When a leaf falls on Capitol Hill

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(Image: CHS)

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Fall leaves might evoke warm memories of cider pressing and pumpkin carving. Or they might remind you of a chore you had growing up, or still havenā€™t managed to escape. Leaves on the ground might symbolize the impending gray we live through in the Pacific Northwest. No matter how you feel, with certainty, leaves fall, and that should happen starting right about now.

The colors of Capitol Hillā€™s street trees in fall definitely have curb appeal, but I would argue the bigger, more compelling story happens after they hit the ground. We all know inherently that leaves decay. Itā€™s why letting them form a slippery, mucky mess on the sidewalk isnā€™t great. We rake them up because eventually they turn from red to brown to mush. But what if I told you that decaying leaves contribute to a food web far more diverse than they do while they are green and on a tree?

Indeed, a green leaf might be important food for a native butterflyā€™s larvae that goes on to pollinate a wildflower, or be eaten by a bird. A fallen leaf is munched by a host of invertebrates, fungi, and bacteria. Fallen leaves make a home for wintering insects, and in turn, become a place for birds to look for important winter foods. The decayed material builds soil and fertilizes plants wherever they fall. A fallen leaf is the base of a pyramid of biological diversity. Continue reading →

How SDOT might fix the Cal Anderson sidewalk and still save the park’s Red Sunset Maples

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The Seattle Department of Transportation has provided more details of how it might handle the dozens of Red Sunset Maples surroundingĀ Cal Anderson ParkĀ as it works to improve damaged sidewalks in the area.

CHS reported earlier this month on the ā€œtree retention evaluationā€ underway at the park as SDOT said the area along 11th Ave and other areas of the park were being evaluated ā€œto consider possible solutions to address sidewalk damage with minimal impact to the trees.ā€

SDOT said one possible solution could be to adjust the path of the sidewalk around the trees. A spokesperson said other solutions to preserve the trees in areas where there is no room to zig zag around them are being considered.

In an update sent to CHS, SDOT said crews are removing the old sidewalk pavement, “exposing the roots so that arborists can evaluate their condition and use established standards to determine if pruning is necessary and how it can be done without harming the trees.” Continue reading →

Seattle speaks for its trees with overgrown set of new protections

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First Central Station’s central courtyard (Image: First Central Station)

The Seattle City Council approved new tree protections in the city Tuesday after more than a decade of debate stacked up a Loraxian level of legislation in the sprawling, many-branched bill.

The new ordinance expands protections to a total of 175,000 trees across Seattle, creates a 4-tier system to categorize trees, establishes a mandate requiring new developments to include street trees, increases penalties for illegal street cutting, expands Seattle Public Utilities’ Trees for Neighborhoods Program, creates additional penalties for unregistered tree service providers, requires trees to be replaced onsite if they’re removed for development or a fee be paid to plant and maintain trees in under-treed areas, increases street tree requirements for developments in neighborhood residential zones, addresses the lack of trees in historically underserved communities through the establishment of a payment in-lieu program, significantly restricts tree removals on Neighborhood Residential lots, and establishes “clear and consistent” parameters for tree protection standards.

The council Tuesday passed the legislation 6-1 with only NE Seattle rep Alex Pedersen opposing the passage after he failed to convince fellow councilmembers to delay their vote until June to give advocates more time to further shape the ordinance. District 3 representative Kshama Sawant was not present for the vote. Continue reading →