Redwood Saplings To Be Planted On West Side Of Laurelhurst Park

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The Laurelhurst Blog has received several emails about the "demise" of the west side of Laurelhurst Park.

One neighbor wrote.

Why is the Parks Department no longer maintaining the west side of Laurelhurst park?  25 years ago they cleared out the brambles and brush on the NW corner of the park when kids were partying in the bushes there.  Now it is a gigantic patch of blackberries and it’s only a matter of time before kids move in or homeless.  

Mid park on the west side a tree came down and they left it there.. now blackberries have enveloped it.   

Below the tennis court there was a big drainage project last summer where they felled a tree and left it there, where they excavated the ground is loose and blackberries has taken it over.  

It’s only a matter of time before the entire west side of the park is nothing but blackberries. This is an urban park that is going by the wayside.  How do we get the Parks Department to do their job?

 

 

The Laurelhurst Blog contacted the Parks Department, who reported that last month the slope on the west side of the Park has been cleared to prepare for a grove of redwood saplings , which will be planted some time next month.

 

Vera, Crew Chief. NE-Magnuson Districts. Seattle Parks and Recreation-North Division, told the Laurelhurst Blog:

I have been communicating with Deborah Brown (Seattle Parks and Recreation Arboriculturist), Matt Stemple (Parks Urban Forestry and Philip Stielstra (NRU, Natural Resources Unit, Seattle Tree Ambassador) regarding a unique proposition.   

We have the opportunity to have a grove of cloned sequoia trees, originated from the giant sequoia trees in California.   The benefit of the grove is to reforest with clone redwoods and continue the legacy of the “Giant Redwoods” which are dwindling in number each year.  Philip Stielstra's goal is to distribute over 300 redwood saplings to 30 Puget Sound communities. 

After several discussions we have found a suitable place in NE for the project; the NW corner of Laurelhurst Park.  The plan is to plant redwood saplings in a kidney bean-shaped grove in the Northwest corner of Laurelhurst park, at the intersection of NE 45^th Street on the north and the east of the private alley on the west.   

The area has been covered with a thicket of blackberry. Parks has used the slope mower to clear the area and surrounding hillside.  Mid November, date TBD, approximately 10 sequoia trees will be planted by volunteers (Plant for the Planet Climate Ambassadors).  NRU-tree will contract out summer watering with Conservation Corp for establishment. 

 Rachel, Seattle Parks and Recreation, added:

Vera’s senior gardener together with the tree crew decided on Laurelhurst park because it has had several tree failures over the past few years, and could use additional plantings. And the area that had been taken over by blackberries would benefit from both the additional maintenance and the tree cover that the redwood trees would bring. 

Seattle Parks Urban Forestry manager said that we cannot predict how fast the trees will grow, but within 30-40 years they will likely be about 50 feet tall.  They will be 85 feet from homes and the Urban Forestry manager does not believe these particular trees will pose a threat of falling on the nearby homes.

Parks must consider the uses of the parks when making decisions about where to plant trees.  There is no approval process for this, but more a collaborative discussion between the Urban Forestry Team and arks maintenance staff.  

This area of the park is a less visited part, compared to the play area or the flat lawn space.  Regularly mown flat lawns often have more intense use for play, while planting a grove of large trees in a sloping, less frequently mowed area will not disrupt other uses. 

  

Parks will take steps to ensure that the trees thrive with proper planting and mulching, providing three years of summer water on a weekly basis, and placing fences around the trees, due to their small size and to ensure they are not trampled or mowed over.  There is no guarantee that any tree will thrive indefinitely, as all trees face threats from insects, disease, drought and unforeseen weather caused by climate change.  Planting large trees and managing invasive vegetation are not mutually exclusive, in fact, the trees will eventually provide shade, which will discourage blackberries.  This area will be periodically mowed to control blackberries as well.

 

The Kitsap Sun post reported:

Bainbridge Island is one of about 30 communities in the region that receiving redwood cuttings through the program Moving the Giants to Puget Sound. More than 300 of the saplings will be planted in the region as part of the effort, according to organizer Philip Stielstra.

The work is a way to preserve the genetics of the redwood tree and its environmental value, Stielstra said. It’s also about preserving the experience of stepping foot in a redwood grove, which, for Stielstra and others like him, is like walking into a massive, majestic cathedral. 

“It’s an amazing experience,” he said. “... Why not share the beautiful nature of that tree around Puget Sound for more to experience?” 

California’s coastal redwood trees can reach heights of more than 300 feet over their long lifespans, which in redwood parks average 500 to 700 years.   

The saplings came to Bainbridge from Northern California via the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a Michigan nonprofit dedicated to preserving the world’s old-growth trees. After Archangel crews snip sprouts from existing redwood trees and stumps, the clippings are taken back to Michigan, where they are cleaned and treated to promote growth and readied for planting.

Each of the saplings is an exact genetic copy of its ancient “parent” tree. One of the Bainbridge sprouts came from the base of the Fieldbrook tree, a massive redwood that measured about 32 feet across at its base. While the tree was felled in the late 1800s, its stump still produces sprouts, Stielstra said. Were the Fieldbrook tree alive today, it’s estimated it would be more than 400 feet tall and about 3,500 years old, Stielstra said.

Regarding the fallen trees that neighbors have reported, Seattle Parks said a work order was submitted by Kevin, the senior gardener working at Laurelhurst, to have them removed within the next 6 months, due to the necessity to use heavy equipment.  Parks reported that the tree crew doesn't believe there is any danger or harm to the land by allowing the tree to lay where it fell for a bit longer.

Seattle Parks also reported that recently the drainage project at the tennis courts was completed.