THE LEAFLET

January 18, 2022 /
Jona Elwell

Trees at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day yesterday, we’re taking a look at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, as we are honored to be a part of the surrounding landscape maintenance team.

One of the newest memorials along the National Mall was a lengthy and thoughtful search for a landscape architecture team, and Oehme, Van Sweden (OvS) was appointed. They created a landscape memorial that honored Dr. King, was sensitive to its placement near the Tidal Basin’s beloved Yoshino cherry trees, and focused on providing adequate canopy coverage to shade pedestrian access areas. At the same time, they learn more about MLK’s legacy and work.

In addition to incorporating 182 new cherry trees into the landscape design, OvS’s unique plans addressed many soil challenges across the site — including compaction, composition, and poor drainage — that if not corrected would significantly limit what plant species could be planted and restrict trees on the site from reaching their full potential size at maturity.

To counter these issues, OvS installed Silva Cells — modular suspended pavement systems that use soil volumes to support large tree growth and provide powerful on-site stormwater management — around nine new American elms planted in the pedestrian sidewalks along the West Basin Drive. The 9,400 cubic feet of loamy soil — more than 1,000 cubic feet per tree — in the suspended pavement system will help the new elms reach their planned overarching canopy of 40 feet.

Since its original installation and unveiling, we’ve been grateful to return to the Tidal Basin and the Dr. King Memorial to work with the National Mall and Memorial Parks to plant additional trees. Over the past three years, we have returned numerous times with and without volunteers to aid the Park Service with a different tree planting on the Independence Ave SW side and care for the currently planted trees to ensure their hardy survival.

When you next visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, admire the natural elements — stone, water, and trees — used to underscore the themes of democracy, justice, hope, and love, and take note of what cannot be seen underfoot that makes the four-acre design so successful.

 

photos showing a planting on dec 18, 2019, and then a photo on apr 22, 2021 showing all the growth!