Meet Joshua, Ani, and Sol…. Our Family Trees

Guest post by David Kosub*

David and his tree

From youngsters with trunks you easily wrap your hand around to those heritage elders with trunks that you cannot easily wrap your arms around, trees make our neighborhood colorful, diverse, breathable, cleaner, and livable. Upon moving to Lamond-Riggs, my wife and I knew one thing we wanted to give back to the community: some more native trees. Without further ado, let us introduce you to our new tree family: Joshua (Tree), Ani (Tree Franco), and Sol (Tree) – and yes, together they are the Tree Amigos.

Here, we wanted to give a big e-hug to those folks already providing our neighborhood trees a good home and encourage others to consider having one or two planted near you.

Some come from storks. Some in a basket mysteriously left on your doorstep. And other branches of joy come from the DC government’s River Smart program and the Urban Forestry group. Never heard of them before? Well, check them out!

Through River Smart, you can get various environmental improvements to your home or business, all which reduce run off into the DC waterways and eventually the Chesapeake after it rains. This means you can get native trees and other plants that love gulping down DC rain, barrels that conveniently store water coming down your downspouts for future garden use, and impervious surfaces turned into permeable ones. The best part, aside from helping the environment of course, is that the city will even pay for a part of the cost. The logic is that it is more cost-effective to protect the environment at the beginning than cleaning up the damage we cause to our shared waterways later.

The 20 types of trees you can choose from are, importantly, all native species. River birches protected with crackly bark. Red maples lovingly considered true DC swamp inhabitants. Catalpas present their heart shaped leaves and white flowers to the world. American Hollies strut their stuff with vibrant red berries in the winter set against dark green leaves. Their arboreal diversity will all add some new sensory delights to you, your home, and your neighborhood. So, what are you waiting for?!?! Take a couple of minutes and fill out an application to get a home consultation already!

What if you don’t want a tree in your yard? Or don’t have the space? But, you look out into that lonely curbside tree box on your street, stomp your feet, and say to yourself, “I like trees too, darn it!” Please consider contacting the Urban Forestry group (or make a 311 request) and they will evaluate if a street tree should be planted there. Just remember, you are responsible for watering it too, even though it’s planted on city property.

Think Lamond-Riggs should have more trees around and want to plant one yourself?

Casey Trees, a non-profit based in Brookland, regularly hosts community tree planting events across the District. Not only can you say that you helped DC meet its urban tree canopy goal and that you gave a little earthy hug to Mother Nature when planting trees, you get to use a pick axe while you’re doing it! These community events can see hundreds of trees go up in a matter of a couple hours – it’s amazing. If the community wants this, we can make a request to Casey Trees to be put on their tree planting schedule.

With winter coming, this is the perfect time to act in support of our community and the environment. These programs are popular across the District and it’ll take a few months to get the ball rolling (it’s the government after all). But that timing will put you right around the spring planting season – and voila green will come!

If you have questions or want to bark about your tree family too, then we look forward to hearing from you. But, for now, we’ll leaf you alone and get off our tree box.

David is a newcomer to Lamond-Riggs and is looking to do what he can to enhance his community in as many ways as possible – and yes, he hugs trees too.

*If you are interested in being a contributor to Next Stop…Riggs Park, email nextstopriggs@gmail.com.