People loved this tree.
Our article Tuesday about the ailing “warrior tree” at Connecticut Avenue and Windom Place – and its impending removal – prompted an outpouring. Our posts Wednesday about its removal produced more mourning.
So sad I didnt get a chance to say goodbye, I watched the seasons chamge through that beautiful warrior tree.
— Dawn Altieri (@DawnDawnita) July 15, 2020
A Council member chimed in.
A very sad loss of an impressive and resilient heritage tree for the Forest Hills neighborhood, but safety must come first :(
These natural losses only underscore the importance of @CaseyTrees & our @DDOTDC Urban Forestry Division's work in restoring the District's tree canopy. https://t.co/UdZOMcCSQ1
— Mary M. Cheh (@marycheh) July 15, 2020
The contractor hired by DDOT’s Urban Forestry Division worked quickly.
DDOT photo
Before long, all that remained was a few inches of the stump.
This “before and after” really drove it home for us. The tree earlier this week:
And the streetscape now:
The reason for the tree’s removal is clear even in what’s left. Here’s the tree earlier this week.
It’s easy to see the decay at the base of the tree.
And here’s how deep the decay had spread within the trunk.
In time, Urban Forestry will send a crew to grind up what’s left and prepare the soil for a new tree to be planted this fall or winter.
David Jonas Bardin says
Experts advise that the substrate has to be examined because our Warrior Oak must have been into a subterranean water source of some kind. or It never could have thrived for so long. As a community let’s ask DDOT / Urban Forestry to investigate substrate and assure replacement tree can also thrive and grow tough, tall, mighty.
— Let’s make a concerted effort: FH Connection, ANC 3F, Van Ness Mainstreet, residents and neighborhood businesses.
— Let’s ask CM Mary Cheh (who chairs Committee that oversees DDOT) for help.