Forest Hills Connection || News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood
Covering Forest Hills, Van Ness, North Cleveland Park and Wakefield
“Ready to rake, DC?” asks DPW’s 2018 leaf collection brochure. Someone needs to ask the trees. Some are giving up their leaves, but for the most part they are showing us their brilliant fall colors. Ready or not, the District began its first round of leaf collection this week. Homeowners who got the brochure in […]
by Marjorie Rachlin Some plants and shrubs thrive in the summer heat, and front yards in Forest Hills are using them in various ways. I drove around and took photos of some of the more interesting ones. We’ve forgotten that it was Lady Bird Johnson’s Beautification Campaign in the 1960s that got a lot of […]
by Marjorie Rachlin It’s time to look for the spring wildflowers in Rock Creek Park. Don’t wait – they don’t last long. They are called “ephemerals” because they bloom for a week or so, set seed quickly, and then the plants die back and vanish. In early April, I look for spring beauties, bluebells and […]
It’s the end of February. The deciduous trees are usually bare by now (if they’re not budding due to the spring-like temps this month). Yet this winter, some trees have been hoarding their dead, dry leaves. Casey Trees said in early December that trees weren’t letting go due to the unseasonable warmth. Rock Creek Conservancy […]
by Marlene Berlin The calendar says it’s mid-February. The weather says it’s spring. And nature is responding by presenting its buds and blooms. Some of these early bloomers are prized because they give gardens a shot as color in February, and in some cases as early as January, as Marjorie Rachlin explained this time last […]
The calendar says December. The weather feels like early November. And as confusing as it is for us, imagine what it’s like for the trees! The leaves on the ginkgo trees on Appleton and Cumberland Streets did not turn a brilliant yellow before they lost their leaves. Other trees are holding onto their leaves longer. […]
Individual homeowners, apartment building managers and businesses are responsible for watering not only the young trees on our own properties, but also those with green bags in our tree box areas along the street. And we have help in this endeavor. Casey Trees, a great local nonprofit that focuses on “restoring, enhancing and protecting” the […]
by Marlene Berlin The leaves on my backyard dogwood trees are usually turning brown by this time of year, scorched by the dry late summer conditions. Instead, they’re turning red. I also realized my front yard, which usually requires a rake at least once if not twice a week by mid-September, has not required any […]
If you have wanted to see UDC’s rooftop farm but haven’t been able to make one of the weekday tours, now’s your chance. The UDC College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences is hosting tours of its green roof and experimental farm on the following Saturdays: July 29, August 12 and September 23. Be […]
by Marlene Berlin Ian Maggard, who deals with Ward 3 community relations for the mayor, read our piece on tree watering and emailed me about the new DDOT tree watering web app. I had not mentioned it in the piece because I found it confusing. It provided directions for watering trees only if it had […]
