Search This Blog

Monday, March 30, 2009

Grand old Central District pear tree now on heritage list


In late fall, residents of Seattle's Central District feast on the D'Anjou pears that rain down from the towering tree at East Cherry Street and 27th Avenue.

Tom Samuelsen, who owns the corner lot on which the tree sits, believes it is more than 100 years old — possibly part of an orchard that existed when the area was "way out in the country."

On Sunday, a group of tree lovers gathered to raise a cider toast to the grand pear tree and its recent designation as a Seattle Heritage Tree because of its continued production, size, condition and age.

City of Seattle arborist Nolan Rundquist awarded Samuelsen's tree a "Best in City" award. There are about 60 other Heritage Trees in public parks and on private properties across the city, though few are fruit trees.

Dousing the celebration with a bit of cold water, tree surgeon Michael Oxman offered his own diagnosis: "Truthfully, it needs to be pruned."

Read on
The painting is by Alfred Glendening

No comments: