Meet our City Arborist, John Noelle. A very nice, fellow, I can say, and he has a simple message for us, “Trees, trees, and more trees!” Well, I paraphrase, mind you, and perhaps these are my words more than they are his, but I think he is of a similar mind. “The more trees, the merrier!”
You may walk outside your apartment, and you may notice trees where once there was only grass. But for now, you will only notice little red flags poking out of the ground. What are these, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. John Noelle kindly paid our humble neighborhood a little visit on Friday afternoon, July 9th, at the request of our good neighbor, Jim Bradley (who owns one of the town houses on the 1800 block of Leslie).
John surveyed the block, and then busied himself placing red flags in ideal locations along the 1800 block of Leslie and the 400 block of Bellefonte for the city to plant trees. (Medium shade trees where there are no power lines, and ornamental trees where there are.)
John told me that the city would gladly purchase and plant the trees, but what the city needs is neighbors willing to water the new trees. Now for that, I can be a good neighbor! John said he would be glad to meet with us and talk about what trees we would like to plant, so please, if you are interested in “trees, trees, and more trees” (or, even if you are opposed), let us know by dropping us a comment below. We can then set up a time and place to meet with John. If we were to move forward with tree planting, John highly recommends we wait till early fall.
John’s email address is john dot noelle at alexandriava dot gov. (Sorry for the silly code, but it helps hinder spammers.) His office phone is 703.746-5499. Online, his office can be found at alexandriava.gov/Trees.
We can be counted on to water.
We would love more trees on the block as long as we don’t get anymore of those awful ginkos.
Yes, female ginkos are a bad call.
I would love to see some trees on the east side of La Grande just north of Bellefonte. I will water.
Fox –
Great post. If possible, ask the city to avoid trees with roots that tear up both the sidewalk and the front lawn. The city planted one such when we moved in – what were they thinking?!?!?!
MB
I’m interested in meeting with John to discuss trees.
We will certainly water but would like the dead one removed & replaced. Would like to know what kind – some of the ornamental are very messy but would certainly love some more trees!
WOW! What a great response.
Before we get too far, let me tell you how I would like to proceed.
1. The flags that were placed in the planting strips on Bellefonte and Leslie are examples of appropriate spacing and location based on presence of underground utilities. Although the 1800 block of Leslie is complete, I only went part of the way east on Bellefonte.
2. The unexpected heat in June and July so far makes me think that we should wait until September or October to plant.
3. Crape myrtles would be a good choice when there are power, phone, and cable wires overhead. Where there are no wires I would like to plant medium size shade trees to provide more tree canopy. Examples of medium size trees are: Honeylocust, Goldenrain tree, Kentucky coffee tree, Chinese pistach….
4. I think we should plan a brief meeting at the beginning of September to finalize the locations and the species of trees. I would be happy to meet on a Saturday morning or early evening during the week, while we still have light. More about that as we get closer to the end of summer.
Last but not least. Please recognize that Jim Bradley, who owns 1816 Leslie is to be given the credit for getting this ball rolling. He called me several weeks ago to talk about planting trees on Leslie Avenue. While I was out there placing flags, Vernon Fox, walking his dog, asked me what I was doing, and the rest is history. Good history.
I am looking forward to working with you all to get some trees planted in your neighborhood. Please don’t hesitate to contact me via email or by telephone at 703 746-5499 if you have any questions.
Thank you all for your interest and support.
John Noelle
City Arborist
John,
Thanks for helping us with the neighborhood foliage.
Come on down to the Duncan Ave side too! There are several spots that could probably use some trees – in front of the tennis courts, at the intersection with Bellefonte (2 trees removed) and where Bellefonte hits Route 1.
Is it also possible for the city to look at the 2 removed but re-growing trees at Leslie & Duncan Ave – 1 is almost blocking the sidewalk!
Thanks!