The Georgetown Metropolitan

This week on Know Your Trees, GM is discussing a tree you’re unlikely to find along the streets of Georgetown, but which you’ll easily find in the surrounding forests: beech.

Beech trees are very easily recognized. They have a smooth gray bark, which makes them popular with people looking to carve their initials (which gives them another feature that makes them easily recognized).

Their leaves are medium sized and have a simple pointed oval form:

In the fall they turn a bright yellow.

According to DDOT’s street tree map, there are just two beeches in Georgetown. (They’re on the southeast corner of Q and 32nd.) The reason they don’t get planted along streets that they grow slowly and do not tolerate urban environments very well. Continue reading →

Photo by Geoff Livingston.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Martha’s Table CEO coming to the Q & A Cafe this week.
• Tom Wolfe once wrote this about Georgetown’s phone numbers: “In such fashionable districts as Georgetown and Chevy Chase, the correct telephone exchange (FEderal or OLiver) has been one of the symbols of status.”

1500 block of 33rd St.

This week on Georgetown Time Machine, GM returns to the fantastic Georgetown Branch photos contained here. This week is a particularly odd one: the sight of a 19th century steam engine. Continue reading →

Photo by Bill Starrels.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• This nice article is apropos to an article GM has coming up later today.
• The coalition of various neighborhoods against airplane noise is appealing the negative decision they recently received. (The earlier decision was by a panel of three judges on the DC Circuit. The appeal is to the whole DC Circuit [known as an en banc]. It’s a long shot that they’ll accept it for review.)

1200 block of 30th St.

Photo by Jon Hayes Photography.

It’s that time of year again when GM harangues you about caring for our precious street trees. So here is goes:

Water your street trees!

We’ve had an unusually wet spring. And you do not need to start watering street trees immediately. But it will become necessary sooner than you think. So if you have a young tree on the sidewalk in front of your house or apartment, please, please keep it in mind this summer and water it. The basic goal you should have is to water young trees at least once a week, so long as you get a good 20-25 gallons of water.

The preferred watering device is the ooze tube (the bags that go around the bottom of the trees). You can differentiate them from the not-preferred gator bags because the gator bags have zippers. (They’re not preferred because they can create an unhealthy enironment around the trunk and you have to remove them after each use.) With the ooze tube you can just fill it up and let it go. Continue reading →

Photo by Elsa Santoyo.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A look at a photo GM has explored before.
• As-of-yet-unnamed French restaurant will replace Mortion’s.

3100 block of P St.

Volta Park has a bunch of great events coming up next month. The spring cocktail party returns on Friday June 15th at Georgetown Visitation. Tickets are available here. Then the next afternoon, Volta Park Day will be held from 2 to 5.

And also don’t forget that the first concert in the park will be held June 3rd in Volta Park.

Lots of great reasons to come on out and enjoy our fantastic park.