tree

Where to Buy a Christmas Tree in Arlington

By Jennifer Currier

The Optimist Club's Christmas Tree sale at 2213 N. Glebe RoadUpdate on 12/12/17 — Please see our 2017 Christmas tree article for an updated list of locations.

The end of Thanksgiving dinner can be a signal to begin Christmas preparations, starting with getting a tree.

From grocery stores to community organizations, Arlington residents have a number of options for finding the right tree.

Local Christmas tree sales aren’t particularly well-publicized online, so for many residents the strategy is to go to where they bought their tree last year.

Here are some places in Arlington County that have been reliable vendors over the years from which to pick up your annual fir.

The annual tree sale in the Wells Fargo Bank lot along Lee Highway will open this Saturday. Its hours are from 2-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 12-8 p.m. on Friday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The Knights of Columbus will sell trees at this church near Crystal City from 6-9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the weekends. An opening date wasn’t specified, but the sale will run through Dec. 20 or until the trees are gone, whichever comes first.

Another local Knights of Columbus organization will be selling trees in Arlington this season. Signs for the sale are up along Glebe Road, across from the Mr. Wash car wash. Last year, the sale was open seven days a week, from 6-9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the weekends.

In previous years, this sale began during the first week of December and sold out in less than two weeks. The troop’s sale does have a Facebook page to follow for updates.

  • Food Star parking lot, 950 S. George Mason Drive

The Arlington South Lions Club has sold Christmas trees here for years, typically from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve.

  • Unleashed by Petco parking lot, 5400 Lee Highway

Christmas trees are sold from this lot along N. Harrison Street, along with other seasonal items, like fireworks around the Fourth of July and pumpkins around Halloween.

If you’re in Clarendon or Courthouse and on the car-free diet, this is the place to go. The trees tend to be on the smaller side, which presumably makes carrying them home easier.

  • Local farmers markets

Local farmers markets often stock Christmas trees, some of which are grown right here in Virginia. Here’s a list of farmers markets in Arlington.

Other popular locations just outside of Arlington include the Home Depot in Falls Church, Greenstreet Gardens on W. Braddock Road near Fairlington and Merrifield Garden Center on Lee Highway in Fairfax County.

Know of any other Christmas tree sales in the area? Let us know in the comments.

Arlington Now Accepting ‘Notable Tree’ Nominations

By Jennifer Currier

A white oak at 400 N. Manchester Street in Bluemont

Arlington County is preparing to make its list of 265 designated “notable trees” a bit longer.

The Department of Parks and Recreation is accepting nominations for its Notable Tree Program through Nov. 15. The program has identified the county’s most notable trees for nearly 30 years.

Last year, 16 trees were deemed worthy of the designation.

According to the nomination form, the purpose of the program is to “recognize and thank the citizens who maintain and care for the County’s most noteworthy trees.” It also hopes encourage other residents to appreciate and take better care of greenery on their property.

What exactly, then, makes a tree notable?

Size, age, historical interest, species uniqueness and special significance to a neighborhood are all factors that can earn a tree a spot on the county’s registry and a certificate or plaque.

The process to get there, though, can be complicated. First, nominators are encouraged to get consent from the tree’s owner before filling out the one-page application. A team of County staff and volunteers will then visit each tree to measure it and evaluate its condition.

That team will make a recommendation to the Urban Forestry Commission, who will decide whether or not to designate and register the tree.

The winners will receive their award at the County’s Arbor Day ceremony, which falls on April 29, 2016.

Photo via Arlington Dept. of Parks and Recreation

Smoking Tree Prompts Fire Department Spray Down

By ARLnow.com
1/3

A county water crew’s effort to smoke some bees out of a hollow tree ended with a fire department response earlier today.

The incident happened Wednesday morning near the intersection of 17th Street N. and N. Buchanan Street, in the Waycroft-Woodlawn neighborhood.

An Arlington Water, Sewer, Streets Bureau crew was trying to rid the tree of the bees, in order to replace a meter box below the tree, when something seemingly went wrong.

“Crews discovered a beehive in the hollow part of the tree and smoked it out so they could access the box,” said Meghan McMahon, a spokeswoman for Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services. “The tree began smoking badly, so crews called the fire department.”

“[Firefighters] sprayed the tree down as a precautionary measure… the tree did not catch fire,” McMahon noted. “Crews didn’t want to take any chances in today’s dry, hot weather.”

The tree is scheduled to be removed by the county parks department Thursday, at which time the water crew will try again to replace the meter box.

Penrose Residents Claim Trees Hurt by Dominion Trimming

By Heather Mongilio
1/6

Residents in Arlington’s Penrose neighborhood are claiming that recent trimming by Dominion Power contractors injured trees that line the streets.

They are especially concerned with a White Oak tree on the corner of 8th Street S. and S. Veitch Street, which dates back to before the Civil War, said Terri Armao, chair of the Penrose Neighborhood Association’s Environmental Committee.

“They brutally attacked it yesterday,” Armao said. “I can’t even tell you what they did to it.”

Limbs were cut from the middle where the power line ran though, leaving a gap and causing the tree to look like a giant “V.” Residents had previously asked Dominion not to touch the tree because of its old age.

“I mean it is ridiculous. For a tree they weren’t supposed to touch, they touch a V out of it,” Armao said.

Margaret Alvord, a Penrose resident, attempted to stop the contractors from cutting into the tree, after receiving a call from a neighbor. The tree had been pruned three weeks ago and was still recovering, Alvord said.

“So I jumped up and went up the street in my car,” Alvord said. “I parked my car and they had already begun… and I asked them to stop. I said, ‘this tree is a very old tree.'”

The workers told her to go talk to the supervisor, and when she talked to him, he told her it was the workers’ job to clear the trees from the lines.

“He basically said its our job to clear the lines. And they have to go 10 feet from lines,” Alvord said.

Dominion workers trim trees in order to keep them off of the power lines, said Chuck Penn, a media specialist with Dominion. The trimmings help to keep the power on during storms.

“Our mandate is to provide safe and reliable service to our customers,” he said.

The company respects the resident’s love for the trees and try to balance keeping the trees and providing service, Penn said.

“I cannot overemphasize enough the empathy we bring to our pruning,” he said. “People love their trees and we respect that.”

All Dominion foresters are certified arborists, Penn said. Trees are trimmed every three to four years to maintain the power lines.

“It’s a delicate balance we don’t take lightly,” Penn said. “We respect our customers and our trees.”

The White Oak is important to the neighborhood for its environmental impacts as well as its age, Armao said. For instance, the tree provides shade for the elderly resident that lives in the house next to it.

White Oaks are also known for their support of different species. A White Oak produces acorns, which can be used by 180 other species, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service.

“They’re one of those keystone trees,” Armao said.

Dominion does not have a policy for trees that have historic value, Penn said. The company does use the foresters when determining when a tree is a “danger” tree and needs to be trimmed.

Neighbors looked through the tree branches for squirrel and bird nests. They found squirrel nests but did not find any traces of live animals in the tree limbs.

Trees were also trimmed on S. Veitch Street and between S. Wayne and S. Adams, Alvord said.

“Our concern is that they are overly trimming trees we’d really like to save,” she said.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Flowers outside a Rosslyn office building

Mercedes Catches Fire After Lightning Strike — An Arlington man’s beloved Mercedes 430 CLK convertible was “burned to a crisp” Monday night after a lightning strike. The lightning apparently struck a power pole, which then fell over. A sparking power line ignited the Mercedes. [Washington Post]

Arlington Honors 16 Trees — The Arlington County Board recognized 16 “Notable Trees” around the county at its meeting yesterday afternoon. During the 10-minute ceremony, details about each tree were read individually as the tree’s owner came up to the front of the room to collect a plaque or certificate. Of the 16 trees, 14 are located in north Arlington and only 2 are located in south Arlington. [Arlington County]

Shirlington Apartment Building Loses Power — Io Piazza, an upscale apartment building in Shirlington, had been without power for more than 24 hours as of last night. An underground transformer that serves the building failed during Monday’s thunderstorms. [Patch]

Year-Round Gift Wrapping at Pentagon City Mall — Starting May 8, the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City will be offering year-round complimentary gift wrapping service. The service is available for purchases of $250 or more at luxury stores. Previously, the service was only offered during certain holidays.

Fmr. Treasurer Endorses Fallon — Frank O’Leary, who retired as Arlington County Treasurer last year, has endorsed Peter Fallon for County Board. “Peter Fallon is a mature, thoughtful, fiscally responsible candidate with an amazing grasp of the issues that confront our county,” O’Leary said in a statement. “I enthusiastically support his approach to improving Arlington.” [InsideNova]

Cristol Published Buzzfeed Listicle — County Board candidate Katie Cristol has published a Buzzfeed listicle, complete with animated GIFs, highlighting “7 Reasons to Vote in Arlington Virginia.” Among the reasons are “housing is getting less affordable,” “over 50% of Arlington is under 35,” “women need a strong voice in Arlington” and “it’s fun.” [Buzzfeed]

Is Arlington Falling Short on Maintaining Its Trees?

By Ethan Rothstein

Cherrydale Trees (photo via Google Maps)Residents of the Cherrydale neighborhood say there’s “no excuse” for the county to fall behind as much as it has with maintaining trees.

In a presentation to the Arlington County Board on Tuesday night, Cherrydale Citizens Association representative Maureen Ross went over several issues during her Neighborhood Conservation plan update, including the upkeep of the North Arlington neighborhood’s street trees.

“Our trees are a huge issue in Cherrydale,” R0ss said. “They’re not in good shape.”

Arlington is spending about $1.2 million on tree maintenance, removal and planting this fiscal year, according to county Landscape and Tree Supervisor Jamie Bartalon. Bartalon said the county has regular tree maintenance programs, but most of the funds are spent on safety-related pruning and removal of hazardous trees.

In county staff’s response to Cherrydale’s tree concerns, the Department of Parks and Recreation said it has recently established new practices for planting urban trees, but said funding is simply insufficient to accomplish all of Cherrydale’s requests.

“DPR’s baseline budget for tree planting is barely sufficient to replace the average number of trees that are removed each year,” the staff report reads. “DPR does not recommend reallocating tree planting funding towards tree maintenance when such reallocation may result in fewer trees being planted than removed from County property.”

Bartalon said the budget for tree planting in FY 2015 is $206,388, and the county has added a net total of 175 trees this year, based on an annual projection of 650 trees removed because they have died or were taken down for development. The majority of trees are removed because they are “dead, dying, hazardous or downed/damaged by storms.”

“Arlington loves its trees as do most residents so we always look for options before removing a tree,” Bartalon told ARLnow.com in an email. “If there is a safety issues… can it just be pruned? If it is diseased, can we cure it? Our last option is to remove a tree.”

On the left, a county tree in Cherrydale. On the right, a tree planted by Safeway (photo via Cherrydale Citizens Association)Ross and her neighbors contend that the county could avoid removing many of its trees if it simply kept a regular watering schedule. Ross showed examples of other trees, like the one pictured at right. She said the tree on the left in the image was planted by the Safeway 10 years ago.

“We planted our trees 20 years ago, but replaced them two or three times,” Ross said. “Why is Safeway able to do it and we can’t?”

There are more than 19,000 street trees in Arlington, according to DPR, and the county “cannot begin to cover the cost to implement a Countywide regular pruning cycle.”

When trees are damaged or hazardous, residents can report them to parks staff, which will respond. But Ross said she looks at Falls Church’s Willow Oak trees, planted 20 years ago at the same time of many of Cherrydale’s street trees, and wonders what could have been.

“[Those trees] look magnificent,” she said. “Why doesn’t Cherrydale look like that? No excuses.”

Photo, top, via Google Maps. Image, bottom, via Cherrydale Citizens Association

Massive Oak Tree Being Cut Down in Bluemont

By Ethan Rothstein
1/9

A developer is cutting down an oak tree thought to be more than 200 years old today in Bluemont, prompting outcries from some neighbors.

The large, willow oak tree, on the 5600 block of 8th Road N., is on a 12,000-square-foot lot that WSD Homes is in the process of redeveloping. According to nearby residents, the homebuilding company is planning on building two $1.2 million houses on the property — where now sits an unoccupied house ready to be torn down.

A request for comment from WSD Homes has not been returned. The tree was more than 100 feet tall and more than 23 feet around at chest height, neighbors said. WSD Homes had originally said it would try to preserve it, but its director of sales, Jon Ferris, changed his mind after talking with neighbors, they said.

“Ferris stated that even if the tree could be saved, people who would buy a nice $1.2 million home would not want such a tree in their front yard,” Mark Haynes, who has been one of the leaders of the campaign to save the tree, told ARLnow.com in an email this morning. “A petition asking WSD and the County to attempt to save the tree has been circulated and has well over 100 signatures including many from local tree experts and neighbors.

“Last week, when local representatives of the Arlington Tree Stewards group and others requested a meeting at the site to discuss how the tree might be saved (with WSD still able to make a profit), Ferris stated that WSD would hurry to cut the tree down to stop the discussion.”

Workers from The Care of Trees were at the house today, chopping the tree down with chainsaws and woodchippers. Several truckloads of tree chippings had already been hauled off site, with the majority of the trunk still firmly in the ground. It’s unclear what, if anything, will be left of the tree when the work is completed.

“This magnificent Willow Oak is estimated to be 180 to 250 years old and predates the American Civil War by at least 50 years,” Haynes said. “Willow Oaks are one of the more long-lived (up to 400 years) and hearty of the oaks. This particular tree was, in the view of a number of experts, very healthy and had many, many years left in it.”

Arlington keeps registries of “Champion Trees” and “Notable Trees,” but the willow oak does not appear to be on either list. Trees that are listed as “Specimen Trees” or in a Resource Protected Area have some protections on them that prevent them from being cut down. The Willow tree has no protections, said Arlington Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Susan Kalish.

“The County cannot stop a private landowner from taking down a tree on their property unless it is a Specimen Tree or in a Resource Protected Area and sadly this tree is neither,” Kalish said.

One of the residents who contacted ARLnow.com said it was the second-largest tree in the county, but ARLnow.com hasn’t been able to confirm its official height or how it compares to other trees in the county.

“To us, it was a magnificent tree no matter it’s ranking,” Kalish said.

UPDATED: New Apartment Complex, Park Coming to Courthouse Area

By ARLnow.com
1/7

(Updated at 2:25 p.m.) A new 2.17 acre apartment development is likely coming to the Courthouse area.

Gables North Rolfe Street is planned as a two building, 400,000 square feet, 395 unit apartment complex on the 1300 block of N. Rolfe Street, in the Radnor / Fort Myer Heights neighborhood, just off of Route 50.

The tract of land on which the project will be built is steep, wooded and also includes a handful of older single family homes and small apartment complexes. Because Arlington County owns three parcels of land on the site, it has been able to work with developer Gables Residential on a number of public benefits.

Among the the benefits, to be paid for by the developer:

  • A new, 8,000 square foot public park that will include a 200-year-old tree
  • LEED Gold certification for the apartment complex
  • Thirty-nine units of committed affordable housing
  • A stand-alone, 14-unit transitional living facility, for those recovering from substance abuse. This will replace the existing Independence House facility on the site, according to Arlington Dept. of Human Services spokesman Kurt Larrick.

The project is expected be considered by the County Board at its February meeting, in two weeks.

Discussing the project at last night’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting, County Board Chair Mary Hynes said the benefits from such projects represent key Democratic values.

“Affordable housing furthers diversity, inclusivity and sustainability, all of which are values… that have driven this community,” she said.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reflected County Board Chair Mary Hynes’ remarks that the planned transitional living facility was for those who were just getting out of jail. A county spokesman says that is incorrect, and that the facility will be for substance abuse recovery.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Yellow-bellied sapsucker in Barcroft Park (Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley)

Two Rescued From House Fire — Arlington County firefighters battled an early morning house fire in the Old Glebe neighborhood overnight. Two adults were rescued from the roof of the three-alarm fire. An ACFD spokesman said hoarding conditions inside the home made battling the blaze more difficult. [WUSA9, WJLA]

Two Trees Considered for ‘Specimen’ Status — The Arlington County Board will vote this weekend, then hold a public hearing, then vote again next month, to determine whether two trees should be protected with a “specimen tree” designation. [Arlington County]

Future of Arlington’s Office Market — The Arlington County Board held a work session Tuesday to discuss the future of the office market in the county. Arlington Economic Development produced a video that discusses how the office market is changing and how that pertains to local policymaking. [YouTube]

Anti-DACA Bill Defeated — A bill that would have denied in-state tuition to some immigrant students has been defeated in the Virginia state senate. Last week, Arlington’s Del. Alfonso Lopez (D) vowed to fight the bill, which was aimed at students who had been protected from deportation by the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. [Virginian-Pilot]

Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley

Christmas Tree Sale Underway at Lee Highway and Glebe Road

By Ethan Rothstein
1/5

The Optimist Club of Arlington‘s annual Christmas tree sale started this past weekend, giving Arlington residents the chance to stop by the Wells Fargo parking lot at the corner of Lee Highway and N. Glebe Road to pick out this year’s symbolic evergreen.

This is the 67th year the Optimist Club — which sponsors “academic and sports activities designed to give Arlington’s youth a better chance to succeed in today’s world,” according to its website — has held its annual sale, which is one of its biggest fundraisers.

This year, the lot is open from 2:00 to 9:00 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, from noon to 8:00 p.m. on Fridays and from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Trees range in prices from $30 for a five-foot white pine to $230 for a 12-foot Fraser fir.

All of the trees being sold are “freshly cut” from Jefferson County, N.C., according to the Optimist Club. Garlands and wreaths are also available for purchase.

Neighborhood Petitions to Save 200-Year-Old Tree

By Ethan Rothstein

Oak tree at N. Nottingham and 27th Streets (photo via iPetitions)Neighbors of a large oak tree on the corner of 27th Street N. and Nottingham Street are concerned that a new development will tear down their “champion tree.”

The tree, according to an online petition the neighbors have launched, is more than 200 years old and is the largest Wildenow’s Oak — a natural hybrid of a black oak and southern red oak — in Virginia. It’s on Arlington’s list of “Champion Trees.”

“Local naturalists have examined it and found it to be in excellent health,” the petition states. “In its long life, the tree has survived the widespread felling of Arlington’s trees during the Civil War and the neighborhood’s transformation from farms to a suburb dotted with neat rows of brick colonials, Cape Cods and ramblers.”

The lot on which the tree sits is slated to be redeveloped by DS Homes, a small construction company based in Manassas. When reached by ARLnow.com, DS Homes employee Manny Carneiro said “the plan right now is to save the tree.”

Nonetheless, Carneiro pointed out that the tree is on the lot and things could change. At the very least, DS Homes will have to trim some of the massive tree’s branches during construction, when it tears down the current home, built in 1950, for a new one. DS Homes bought the property to redevelop last month, according to Arlington County property records.

The online petition has 324 signatures as of 10:55 a.m. The petition’s organizers have a goal of 400 signatures.

Photo via iPetitions

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