City to remove trees at Gemenskap Park site, new trees to be planted

Geeky Swedes Ballard

Construction is underway at Ballard’s newest park on 14th Ave. NW, and you may have already noticed the road is now closed between 58th and 60th.

As part of the Gemenskap Park project, crews have marked 12 trees along the east side of the street to be cut down — all but a large maple tree that lives between 59th and 60th, according to the East Ballard Community Association (EBCA). The marked trees include 11 Kwanzan cherry trees and one big leaf maple tree.

Here’s the view from Google, looking east, of the trees along the east side of 14th Ave.:

We received a note from one reader — who included Seattle Parks in the email — urging the city to protect the trees marked for removal.

“(The) Parks Dept. is interested in mowing down trees instead of accommodating and working WITH existing trees,” he wrote. “When is the city and its agencies going to step up and protect our tree canopy?”

The EBCA did some research on the trees and discovered the city’s arborist advised that the cherry trees were infected with an invasive insect and the maple was “high risk.” The other maple, which will remain, was deemed healthy.

The project calls for 24 new trees to be planted to replace the 12 that will be removed — 6 of the new trees will be 14-feet tall when planted.

“Although we will be losing the spring blossoms from the cherries, the new trees were selected for their spring flowering nature and many will have beautiful colors in the fall,” explains the EBCA.

Geeky Swedes

The founders of My Ballard

9 thoughts to “City to remove trees at Gemenskap Park site, new trees to be planted”

  4. It will probably be like the Ballard Commons where half the trees the city planted died within one year and we still have 3 dead trees that they haven’t bothered removing. The ones that have “made it” on the North side of the park were all infested by mites last fall and probably won’t make it another year.

    Note to the city – if you plant saplings in the winter/spring you actually have to water them in the summer if you want them to survive to see the fall.

    Basic stuff most 2nd graders would understand but our city arborists don’t seem to get.

  5. It’s terrible we’re spending millions on a “park” that is really not a park but a median. And worse we’re taking out mature trees…but leaving those ugly power lines in place.

  7. i think its Norwegian for “spend a bunch of tax money on a ‘park’ that nobody wanted that will soon be overrun by junkie bike thieves”

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