a few somewhat noteworthy trees in suburban DC

9 years ago

I seem to recall I did a similar post a few years ago...? Oh well, here's an update then.
BTW I'm not going to disclose exact locations. The golden rule is a good thing to remember: do unto others as you would have others do unto you. If I had a rare tree in my yard, I would not want my location permanently posted online. Especially since the people who planted these are almost certainly long gone given the high turnover in the region.
I will make them clickable so as not to violate "the rules"

First, the Bethesda Monkey Puzzle, vying with one at the Barnes in Philadelphia for largest on the US East Coast:
{{gwi:391065}}

It has some worrying dieback. I wonder if this is an effect of the very cold winter, one of the coldest it would have ever seen, assuming it was planted NLT 1986. (could have been earlier)
I can't go find my pictures of this from the late 90s, but it has grown quite a bit. I'd say it's definitely growing faster than 1' a year.
{{gwi:391068}}

Now, a Cunninghamia in North Arlington. I found this around the same time frame of 15 or so years ago. I also have another picture of it that is unlocateable, from what I remember it really hasn't gotten much bigger.
{{gwi:391072}}

I got a tip from a landscaper I briefly worked for in the late 1990s about this cedar. It also doesn't seem much bigger than I remember - definitely not taller, maybe a little fatter. That being said, it's one of the biggest cedars I've seen in the residential suburbs of DC, it's on a commanding hillside above a road, you can see where I blurred out a street sign. Too bad about the disease problem, I wonder what that is. Given that there have been several known incidents of intransigence between the Fairfax County environmental officials and wealthy landowners about tree protection requirements (also happened in Moco, with someone famous who I forget), I sure hope they aren't poisoning it to justify cutting it down.
{{gwi:391075}}

Finally a couple pictures from a private gardening I briefly did weeding and odd jobs for in the late 90s. This is a 35-ish year old Fagus 'Roseomarginata'. We concluded the average growth rate was definitely under 1' a year, but he said it had gotten a little faster in recent years. I remember it being much smaller, but that was a long time ago. Soil here is very old clay farm soil, probably pretty good, not developer fill.
{{gwi:391079}}

But it's definitely slow - they have a Fagus americana they planted at the same time that was about twice as large:
{{gwi:391083}}

A Fagus 'Asplenifolia' he thinks was planted a little later, but is almost as slow as the Fagus 'Roseomarginata'.
{{gwi:391085}}

Finally, these Colorado Blue Spruces were planted by my parents a couple years after I was born, so also about 35 years ago:

Ouch! I last saw these trees 5 years ago, and they weren't happy looking then but they were still alive. I think the very hot summers of 2010, 2011, and 2012, which had droughts alternating with periods of heavy rains, finished these off. Not sure what they are thinking not to remove them at this point...crazy notion they might return? (new owners - not my parents!) I noticed a *lot* of really bad looking blue spruces in the suburbs of DC, more than I remember when I left the area roughly 10 years ago.

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Fri, Jul 11, 14 at 14:13

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Comments (12)

hairmetal4ever
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Nice pics.

Those spruces just need to be put out of their misery, STAT.

The Beeches are interesting - they (the F. sylvaticas) seem to grow more slowly here than in Ohio...

When I was up in NH and MA this past week there were a lot of LARGE Purple/Copper beeches and most were in excellent condition. I think they're a bit heat sensitive.

There's a sad looking Cunninghamia in Columbia that I think got some rather significant winter damage. I'll try to get a pic.

Speaking of that, could that be winter damage on that Cedar?
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davidrt28 (zone 7)
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You know I hadn't even thought of it, but it could be. Odd that it isn't more diffuse though and seems confined to a few sections. I admit I was jumping to conclusions about it being deliberately injured.

There's a really big copper beech in Havre de Grace, MD, and I think there are a few others here and there in the lower mid-Atlantic region, but yeah I agree the distinguished older ones are common further north. I seem to recall seeing several huge ones on Long Island, at Newport, RI, and in the suburbs of Boston. The DC area is their southern limit in the Piedmont - there was a famous large one at Dumbarton Oaks that died a few years ago.

I think the Cunninghamia looks pretty good for one after this winter, and the past bad summers we've had. (Although mine is only 8' and was uninjured, so who knows.) I sometimes see ones that don't look as good, there was one in Reston near the lake but I didn't have time to check it out. It was scragglier though. The North Arlington one is the best I've seen in a non-specialist setting. (collector's garden, botanical garden, etc.)

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Fri, Jul 11, 14 at 16:04
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sam_md
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I have linked the Montgomery County Forestry Bd's site which has their Champion Tree List. Although sometimes these lists leave alot to be desired Montgomery Co's list is quite good, the photography is especially good. My 2009 paper copy says that the MP Tree in Bethesda has a height of 30'.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mont. Co. Forestry Board.
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bengz6westmd
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Years ago in the summer the large Blue Atlas cedars in the VA State Arb (Winchester) all had some type of serious needle-loss. They were all prb'ly 50 yrs old or more, so had survived quite a few bad winters. Don't know their condition now.
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davidrt28 (zone 7)
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for the tip Sam, I wouldn't have known that MoCo had their own big tree registry. Since the owners are listed under their own name, presumably they have no concerns with someone looking them up and coming to gawk at the tree.

This post was edited by davidrt28 on Sat, Jul 12, 14 at 9:36
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georgeinbandonoregon
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
very interesting info---good to know that at least in some places on the east coast that such a fascinating (and sometimes finicky) tree as the araucaria can do so well. thanks for sharing.
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whaas_5a
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Good to see some trees from other areas. Wish more people would take the time to take pics.

I even enjoy seeing younger trees in peoples yards.
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Mike McGarvey
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
They are quite common here in the maritime Pac NW dating back to when
the sailing ships went 'round the horn. They would stop in Santiago,
Chile for supplies and bring the seeds up here with them. In Chile, the
seeds are used in salads.

Mike
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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
8 years ago
The largest Sciadopitys verticillata that I have ever seen is at McCrillis Garden in Bethesda. I can only guess how tall it was -- maybe 40 feet. I don't know much about them, and maybe that's a small one! LOL! Might be worth checking out.
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davidrt28 (zone 7)
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Dave the biggest I remember seeing personally was here:

http://binged.it/1SMEdnU

In Beverly, MA, though I can't remember exactly which of those trees it was, it was close to 40' or so, too, I'd guess. And that was a few years ago in the late 2000s.

ALJ says the largest in the US is in Everett, WA, at 54', the largest in the UK at 75' in Kent, and the largest in Japan 150'! (probably hundreds of years old)

McCrillis is a nice garden, I need to go back there some day. They (unusually, for a DC area municipal garden) had a number of large rhododendrons of "beyond ironclad" variety. Of course, nothing like the Jenkins, Taylor or Tyler in PA.
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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
8 years ago
There are some gems in that old McCrillis garden. Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Rotundifolium' are very mature. Nice Osmanthus armatus.

They have a developing Lithocarpus henryi too. Interesting hollies, camellias, Eleagnus, etc.

Also, a large Aucuba 'Limbata'. Very established plant. Here's a photo of it by Randy Stewart (Future Plants).
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davidrt28 (zone 7)
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the additional pic and info.

'had a number of large rhododendrons of "beyond ironclad" variety. Of course, nothing like the Jenkins, Taylor or Tyler in PA.'

it would be interesting to know if they still do, given we had three incredibly hard summers for them in 2010, 2011, and 2012.
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a few somewhat noteworthy trees in suburban DC

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a few somewhat noteworthy trees in suburban DC

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