Tree Walks | Reforesttacoma

Tree Walks:

Proctor Tree Walk

October 14, 2023:

We are so lucky to have magnificent trees and a wonderful canopy in the North End of Tacoma. Unfortunately, the rest of our city is not so lucky. With a 20% canopy overall, Tacoma ranks last among cities in the Puget Sound region.

This walk was intended to demonstrate how trees make a substantial difference, not just to the beauty of our neighborhoods, but to the health of the people and wildlife who live here. When we stand before or under one of these trees, we can sense the past, enjoy the present, and visualize a future with an expanded canopy bringing the same beauty and good health to all parts of our city.

Our guide: Sarah Low, founder of Tacoma Tree Foundation

Pin Oak Trunk & Cover

Look up into its structure to see the intricate nature and strength of its limbs as they branch out high and wide. If you are here during a hot summer day, note how they block out the sky, and think about how much cooler it is both under the tree and inside the building. This tree has developed its own strength and prepared for longevity in an environment well suited to its good health. We are lucky to have the climate to support a wide range of tree species.

Pin Oak Girth

Note how much room this tree has had to grow. As a result, it graces this city street corner in front of the Wheelock Branch Library with the beauty only a Pin Oak can deliver. Stand underneath and appreciate its girth that spreads from the building to the street. Take a moment to think about how many people have sat under this tree to enjoy a drink or an ice cream. Then notice the new Pin Oak and Red Oak trees just planted along the street and imagine being here 100 years from now with your great grandchildren.

Coastal Redwood

These trees lived with the dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era 145 million years ago. Native to the Pacific Coast, from Southern Oregon to central California, they are one of the world’s fastest growing conifers and can grow as high as a 30-story skyscraper. They can live for more than 2,000 years with trunks wider than 25 feet in diameter. They thrive in Tacoma due to its cool coastal climate with much-needed winter rains. Redwoods can create their own “rain” by capturing fog on their leaves that turns to droplets, some of which are absorbed by their needles, while the rest dips to the ground.

Redwood Bark

Coastal Redwoods can survive natural forest fires because they are protected by very thick bark that can be up to a foot deep. They get their name from the beautiful reddish hue of their bark, which is soft, fibrous and rich in Tannins, to help prevent insect damage.

Ginkgo

Also known as the maidenhair tree, the Ginkgo is native to East Asia. It is the last living species of the Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Ginkgo fossils have been dated back to the middle Jurassic epoch approximately 170 million years ago. Ginkgo fossils near Ellensburg are more than 30 million years old. It has survived every type of natural and human created disaster to become known as the tree of hope. Note the fan shape of their leaves, which are irregularly notched, and often deeply grooved in the middle of the leaf, producing two distinct lobes, hence the name Ginkgo biloba (two lobes).

Big Leaf Maple

These Big Leaf Maples have had the advantage of these wide parking strips, giving them lots of space and sun to enjoy. They have the largest leaves among maples with five deeply incised palmate lobes. Note how their structure evolves into multiple trunks, each one of which becomes a large tree. It is not very fire resistant due to its rather thin bark. It spreads and grows quickly from cuttings or stumps of any size in a prolific manner. Syrup can be made from Big Leaf Maples, although the taste is not as appealing. It takes 40 volumes of sap to produce a single volume of syrup.

Big Leaf Maple Cover

As you look up into the girth of this tree, you will see the difference from the Pin Oak (the first tree on our walk). The branches are not as strong, stretching a smaller distance from trunks that are equally wide. Notice the epiphytes, likely club moss and licorice ferns, growing on the lower stems. It is an ecosystem itself that will gradually turn to dirt, supporting its own group of plants, reminding us that trees are not just trees. They become integrated with all aspects of nature around them as part of an ecosystem that supports a wide range of wildlife, as well as human needs.

Douglas Fir

The Douglas Fir is the most preeminent tree in the Pacific Northwest. It covers more acres, grows larger, and provides more wood than any other species in the region. They grow tall and straight. Only the Redwoods of California grow taller. They are easy to identify, as their thin needles stick out in all directions from the twig like a bottle brush. The cones are the only ones you will find in the Northwest with three-pointed brackets sticking out of the scales. The thick bark is deeply furrowed, more than any other tree in the region. The tallest known Douglas Fir 327 feet) is but 50 feet less than the tallest known Coastal Redwood.

Deodar Cedar

While this tree’s natural habitat is in the Himalayan Mountains from Afghanistan to Nepal, it has become a popular ornamental tree in the Northwest. Many say it is the most graceful cedar because of its tall silhouette and gently drooping branches. Their silver green needles also droop gently from their branches, giving the tree its signature appearance. Cones stand upright and are barrel or egg shaped. Note how much shade this tree provides with space underneath to enjoy summer afternoons. Deodar Cedars grow quickly with a dense canopy, making them ideal as wind breakers, as well as excellent homes for wildlife.

European Beech

Native to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, the European Beech tree requires a humid atmosphere and well-drained soil. Their dense foliage will block out the sun and they are a wonderful place for a hammock in the middle of summer. Their root system is very shallow, with large roots spreading out in all directions, often in conflict with sidewalks and a need for level ground. Elliptical leaves are a beautiful light green when unfolding in the spring, dark with undulated or wavy margins that are ciliate.

European Beach Bark

You can always identify a European Beech by the elephant-hide appearance of its trunk. The bark is smooth with a silver-grey color, which it retains throughout its growth. These trees often retain their colorful leaves well into winter. Edible beechnuts are three winged, triangular in shape, and usually have two nuts in a prickly husk. Beechnuts were food for prehistoric man and are still consumed today. They are eaten by birds and mammals, serving as important food for chipmunks and squirrels.

Spanish Chestnut

A native of southern Europe, the Spanish Chestnut was naturalized in eastern Massachusetts, where it survived chestnut blight and became the alternative to disappearing Dutch Elm trees along the eastern seaboard. It is a very drought tolerant species, well adapted to native Mediterranean habitats, much like we have here in the Pacific Northwest. As you can clearly see, it will grow to nearly 100 feet at its maturity with a trunk diameter up to seven feet. Chestnuts have been cultivated from this tree for human consumption since ancient times.

Spanish Chestnut Cover

Like this particular tree, they do best with room to spare in the full sun. Just take a moment to stand under this tree and look up to appreciate its natural structure. It may never have been pruned, yet the extensions from trunk to limb to branch are so congruent as neighbors to each other, the cover is both complete and artful. Then, notice their unique leaves, with their sawtooth edges and slightly furry undersides. When they turn yellow in the fall, we marvel at the grandeur and grace this tree brings to our neighborhood.

Monkey Puzzle

Native to and the national tree of Chile, it is highly important to the Mapuche people in the region. The edible seeds, carried in the cones, are commonly referred to as “pine nuts.” They are harvested by a climber who goes to the top of the tree with a large pole and knocks off the spiny, 10 to 15 pound mature cones, which fall to the ground causing the seeds to drop out for awaiting gatherers, who then grind them into flour. The species is part of an ancient lineage of conifers, and is often describes as a ”living fossil.” Scientists believe the tree’s sharp, distinctive leaves may have evolved as defense against dinosaur predation. These two stand fully mature, with such interesting bark on magnificent straight trunks that lift the sheer weight of their branches as if they were paper mache.

Ponderosa Pine

Northern Catalpa

Quaking Aspen

Tacoma’s Environmental Challenge

In spite of being located in an environmental zone conducive to a wide range of plant and tree growth, Tacoma faces a future of unhealthy human stress because we do not have an adequate tree canopy. We lack the necessary photosynthesis to clean our air. As summer temperatures continue to rise, the many concrete-dominated areas of our city will continue to be ten degrees above those streets laden with trees. Run-off from our impervious surfaces will increasingly threaten the vitality of the Puget Sound. Winters in treeless communities will be more severe. As our city grows, our water ways will suffer from pollution and land erosion. Our wildlife will increasingly lack the food, protection and homes our trees provide. And assuredly, the noise of increased density in our city will not be offset by the muting value of a large tree canopy.
Tacoma enjoys a strong majority of residents who care about the future of our neighborhoods. We are a community who understands why investments are necessary now to ensure our grandchildren live with fresh air, clear water and reasonable summer temperatures. A large and healthy tree canopy will make the difference. Trees like the ones highlighted on this walk, if given the freedom to live, will continue to serve as stewards of our environment. In ten years, the trees we plant now will have joined their stewardship. We must stand up now and assure our representatives take the actions necessary to preserve our existing tree canopy and to fund the planting of at least 10,000 new trees per year until 2030.

What can you do:

Write letters to City Council members and speak out at their meetings demanding that they act now to achieve their own adopted goal of achieving a 30% canopy by 2030.
Become a Tree Advocate and help us influence the City Council by clicking here.
Join forces with concerned organizations who are working to reduce the stress on our environment, such as the Tacoma Tree Foundation, Tacoma Urban Forest Friends, Tacoma Neighborhood Councils, 350 Tacoma, Citizens Climate Lobby, Pierce County Conservation District, the Tahoma Audubon Society, and the Tacoma Garden Club

How to enjoy this walk:

Give yourself 2 hours
Pick a time in the spring when the deciduous trees are fresh with green, or in the fall when leaf color is intense
Check out its location and notice how much space it has to grow
Look at its relationship to the sun
View each tree from afar, to appreciate the grandeur of it size
Imagine its shape as a seedling
Stand underneath and look up through its branches to feel its cover
Examine the bark for unique crevices and color
Take a leaf in your hand and study its spine and edges
Then take a deep breath to sense its smell
Think about the amount of oxygen being produced and how it is affecting your well-being