Before Casey Trees plants any trees in the ground, our Tree Planting department conducts extensive research and site visits—all in the name of forest restoration.

At Fort Dupont Park in Southeast D.C. – a planting project, we’re experimenting with new preparation methods for the sites where we plant, a project that is being funded through a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund grant.

Our crew started their visit conducting on a targeted survey of one particularly noxious exotic tree: Ailanthus altissima or Tree of heaven.

Our Tree Planting crew conducting an invasive species survey

They identified over 25 trees that will be surgically treated with herbicide later in the spring. Once treated, these trees will remain in place as “snags”or standing dead trees, and while remaining an important habitat and shelter for wildlife like birds and squirrels, they will no longer pose a threat to future seed dispersal to the restored site. In addition to identifying invasive our crew also pinpointed three native trees—two Tulip trees and an American elm—to be set aside.

These trees were set aside because of our underbrush removal.

Typically done by hand, underbrush and invasive vine species such as multi-flora rose and vine honeysuckle were removed to make way for new trees. However, the sheer size of the site at Fort Dupont Park (over 3 acres) required more than just manpower so a forestry mower was called in (supplied by Sustainable Solutions, LLC.).

Now some of you might be asking: what is a forestry mower?

Behold.

Essentially a combination tractor / bulldozer / lawn mower, the forestry mower takes unwanted trees and underbrush and transforms it all into mulch. This process knocks back the undesired vegetation in a way that also reduces erosion, water pollution and allows nutrients to reenter to soil. It’s great for the site and it’s also really cool to watch.

The site before the Forestry Mower

The site after the mower came through

The forestry mower avoiding our protected tulip

Our crew will be back on site in the spring to begin planting. Stay tuned to TreeTalk or our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn pages for more updates on Fort Dupont Park.

It’s that time of year again — time to cast your vote for Best Nonprofit in the Washington City Paper’s 2015 Readers’ Poll. Make Casey Trees a consecutive two-time winner by casting your vote for us today — and then tell a friend to do so!

Why do we think we should get your vote? Just this past year, Casey Trees:

• Planted more than 2,000 trees across all eight wards of the District, bringing our total number of trees planted since 2002 to 18,971.
• Mobilized more than 1,300 volunteers to transform neighborhood treasures like The Park at LeDroit. Volunteers logged more than 4,000 hours planting, caring and advocating for trees.
• Wrote and published the award-winning Citizen Advocate Handbook to empower D.C. residents to advocate for trees right in their neighborhoods.
• Led almost 50 classes, workshops and tree tours to get people excited about trees and train-up individuals wanting to learn and do more.
• Hosted the inaugural Canopy Awards to celebrate the contributions of individuals working to re-tree D.C.

These are just a few reasons why we hope you will vote for us. What did you like most about what we did in 2014?

Please vote Casey Trees Best Nonprofit today. A win for Casey Trees means more people will discover Casey Trees and greater attention will be given to the District’s trees.

Voting is open to all — you don’t have to live in D.C. — now through March 1 at 11:59. Please don’t delay, vote now.

One of D.C.’s oldest parks, Rock Creek Park, is celebrating its 125^th anniversary.

To commemorate, author of A Year in Rock Creek Park, Melanie Choukas-Bradley will be leading a series of four 125^th anniversary hikes throughout Rock Creek Park, sponsored by Casey Trees.

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Winter is here! Which means it’s the ideal time to prune your trees.

Most pruning takes place in the winter because trees are dormant in the colder months.

Pruning provides many benefits to the longevity of a tree. By pruning young trees, it forces those trees to grow in a way that promotes a strong structure. It also allows trees to seal and compartmentalize wounds or other damage — limiting decay that could be a draw for fungi, pests, and other maladies.

We typically hold two to three pruning workshops per year to train up people on how to properly prune trees on their property. Our most recent pruning workshop was held on January 10.For those who may have missed the class here are some videos that explain the basics:

One of our stellar interns, Arielle Conti, recently received a promotion to Urban Forestry Research Associate. A joint hire between Casey Trees and Davey Trees. Arielle tells us about her new position and the exciting research she will be undertaking.

Casey Trees (CT): Describe yourself

Arielle Conti: I’m a Sagittarius.

How did you end up at Casey Trees?

I learned about Casey Trees through my graduate work at American University. It was this really cool course where we went to different D.C. based organizations working on a whole range of environmental issues in order to understand the landscape of the current environmental movement.  Emily and Maisie spoke with us about the Advocacy program, soon after I found a posting for a summer internship working in the TS&R Department.  Love blossomed and the rest is history.

What’s your favorite part of working for CT?

The snazzy LEED certified open concept office?

Seriously though, besides the fact that I feel good getting behind CT’s mission and contributing to my community in positive ways, it’s the people I work with.  They’re fun to be around, generally jovial and they are smart, motivated, passionate coworkers. 

How thrilled are you to be transitioning into this new role?

Words could not describe.  The opportunity to pursue the great work we’ve been doing and expanding that work through this new partnership with The Davey Institute is truly an awesome opportunity.  I’m genuinely excited about the projects I’ll be working on as a joint hire and because I’ve been here for a few months I am able to literally hit the ground running. 

What kinds of projects will you be working on/what do we have to look forward to?

We’re partnering with The Davey Institute to integrate and disseminate iTree more widely in an effort to better understand our urban forest.  iTree is a software program that can be used to evaluate D.C.s tree canopy so we can better manage it.   I’ll be doing a bunch of work integrating iTree into Casey Trees’ citizen science program in order to train volunteers, students and interested community members.

If you could choose to live in any forest (urban or non-urban) in the world, where would it be and why?

Any mangrove forest—preferably on a tropical island.  I’ve always been slightly amphibious, I was a swimmer my whole life and feel very at home in the water.  I mean, mangroves protect coastline, prevent erosion and the trees are so unique looking! There’s something to be said for being able to see a trees roots while it’s still growing.