Tree Success Story

Perhaps one of the largest contributors to Georgetown’s beauty are the stately trees that line our sidewalks. But as you may have noticed, we lose a good number of these trees each year to the stresses of drought or blight. We need to constantly replenish our stock simply to maintain the status quo. And the tree you see above is a testament to what can be nurtured in a short amount of time if care is taken.

Skip back in time to the middle of 2011, this is how this stretch of 33rd St. looked:

There’s barely a tree box there, let alone a tree. This was the state of affairs just before GM moved into a house just down the block. That winter Trees for Georgetown fixed up the tree box and planted a sycamore.

The homes directly adjacent to the tree had no hose spigot on the front, so there was little they could do to care for the tree. Instead, GM adopted the tree and bought a gator drip bag. Filling it every week or so, as needed, for the past three summers has allowed the tree to thrive. GM doesn’t have any photos of the tree shortly after it was planted, but it is now significantly larger than any new tree. Check out the size of the trunk, it’s about 8 inches in diameter:

With proper care, a newly planted street tree can grow this much is just a few years. In fact, this is probably the last summer GM will even bother watering the tree on a routine basis. It’s mature enough and should have deep enough roots to take care of itself from now on. (The giant tree box helps because it allows much more rain water to soak the soil around the tree.)

If you see a newly planted tree on your block that’s not being cared for and you have a hose, consider adopting the tree as your own. If you don’t have a hose, try to identify a neighbor that does who will either water it, or let you use their hose.