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Free Trees, Finding Redwoods, and Boating at Green Lake

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Hopefully you enjoyed the novelty of cold rain yesterday. Today summer sort of returns, which is fortunate for the “summer splash” at Green Lake today. From 9 to 4 there will be crew races, food vendors, children’s activities, and a chance to experience rowing, canoeing, kayaking, and paddle boarding for free. For more info, click here.

Beyond that, if you have room for a giant conifer then the city would like to give you one. Go here to claim your evergreen.

There’s no redwoods available, but Wallingford has at least two giant ones already. There’s one at the Bittman Estate on Eastern between 50th and 46th, and there was an even bigger one in somebody’s backyard in Lower Wallingford that I saw during the home and garden tour about a decade ago. They do well in the Northwest provided they’re thinned, so they don’t blow over.

Anybody know the location of the Lower Wallingford redwood? How about other redwoods in the neighborhood? I’d like to do a photo essay on them.

 

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Eric

I've lived here since 1998. I spent 13 years at Microsoft as a developer and manager, concurrent with Ballmer's reign. I quit after seeing my third consecutive project cancelled, while my parents needed help, and my wife was getting stressed working at Seattle Public Schools. Since then, I have helped family and community while taking on side projects and volunteer work. I led the renovation of Meridian Playground, helped moderate the South Transfer Station design, helped advance the Green Lake Way road diet, and have guided several transportation and parks projects through neighborhood involvement. I wrote for Wallyhood for a while and was president of the Wallingford Community Council during the great recession, where thankfully, land use was not an issue. I'm an impatient moderate vegetarian who believes in practical win-win solutions.

This Post Has 17 Comments

  1. Stephen August 15, 2015

    In the yard at the southwest corner of woodland park ave and motor place there are two redwoods

  2. Rae August 15, 2015

    There’s one in the backyard at the sw corner of 39th and Ashworth

  3. donn August 15, 2015

    Several on Ashworth between 36th & 39th, if you count the one mentioned above on 39th, one on Densmore north of 39th. I think the biggest I’ve seen outside of a park is on Boyer on the west fringe of the Montlake neighborhood, nice low lying spot with probably good access to the water table. All these are Coast Redwood. I’m sure there are some Giant Redwoods too, but can’t think of one.

    They’re easy – big and very distinctive. A much more impressive feat would be a few large Grand Firs – they can also grow very large, but it’s easy to mix Grand Fir up with Balsam Fir. The needles look similar, and while they may reliably smell different, that isn’t much help until you know how they’re supposed to smell. The seattle.gov page asserts that Grand Fir makes a beautiful “yard tree”, but my guess is that photo documentation would not bear that out, sadly.

    Veering even farther afield taxonomically speaking, there are a few native dogwoods around the area, one really large one over towards Aurora. I mean, it’s not exceptionally large as trees go, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dogwood that big anywhere else. The native dogwood is supposed to be vulnerable to some disease, but this one apparently didn’t get the memo.

    1. donn August 15, 2015

      Oh yeah, a couple fairly large Giant Redwoods on 40th near 4th NE.

  4. cocoloco August 15, 2015

    There are a few here and there.
    The ‘here” link to spash day does not work.

    1. Eric August 15, 2015

      Thanks for the redwood locations, I’ll look to take a tour with a camera!

      Cocoloco- Splash day “here” link works for me. Anyone else see problems there?

  6. Joyce August 15, 2015

    Dawn redwoods (metasequoia) also?

    1. donn August 15, 2015

      There are several around the north side of Green Lake, but in Wallingford … I think again N 39th is the place, between Woodlawn and Densmore. Maybe.

      Remembered another Coast Redwood, on Meridian south of N 42nd. Two blocks east, you may see what is probably Wallingford’s only Aspen grove.

    2. Joyce August 17, 2015

      We have a dawn redwood in our (too small for it) back yard.

  7. Val TangleT August 15, 2015

    Close to Green Lake, there’s a big one on Woodlawn Ave, just northeast of Kirkwood Pl. I think it’s a Sequoia, but I’m not good at identifying western trees.

    1. donn August 15, 2015

      Just from what I can make out on “street view” – Douglas Fir, might be my favorite conifer. Looks like it might have split into two trunks, or there are two trees side by side, for a bushier than usual look, compared to the other doug fir nearby.

      Some single family neighborhoods beat any arboretum, and Wallingford has its share of that going on.

  8. T August 16, 2015

    There is a giant (three actually) Redwood (Sequoia?) in a back yard between 48th/49th, Wallingford/Burke (closer to Burke). The trees are approaching 100 ft, still babies 🙂

  9. Justin August 17, 2015

    We’ve got a Coastal Redwood in our backyard. NE 58th between Latona and 5th.

    1. BarbB August 17, 2015

      We have two Coast Redwoods, one in the back yard (with a tree house) and one in the north side yard. NW corner of N. Pacific and Sunnyside N.

  10. Sandy August 19, 2015

    If you are looking outside Lower Wallingford, there’s one in the Medicinal Herb Garden on the UW Campus near the Forestry Building

  11. Jimbo August 20, 2015

    Check out the Redwoods at Woodland park. They are planted right along Aurora, between the pedestrian overpasses. They are planted on both sides and it is easy to walk up to their massive and beautiful trunks. Sadly, they look a bit dry these last couple of years, and I wonder if they might not make it. You can see them at the site as well http://seattlesbiggesttrees.blogspot.com/

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