GARRY OAKS AND THE HISTORIC DISTRICT

Recently, the Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) announced a major new initiative aimed at encouraging the protection and promotion of native Garry Oak habitat in Washington State. I've planted several of these handsome native oaks in my adopted area in the Park. They're slow growing and long lived. They produce beautiful small oak leaves that cling to the tree well into early winter. Once established, they grow into massive heavy limbed structures.

From the WNPS website: "Typical of the southern reaches of Puget Sound country and further south are the unique and special prairie communities which may include our only oak, the Garry Oak. These grassy savanna-like openings occur in gravelly dry soils and are frequently associated with glacial outwash. Here rich meadow communities of grasses and wildflowers intermingle with massive oak trees which may be more than 300 years old.

.... Sadly, these prairies are vanishing as a result of increased development and encroachment by Douglas Fir."

The WNPS link is:
http://www.wnps.org/ecosystems/west_lowland_eco/garry_oak.htm

As I walk through the parade grounds within the historic district in Discovery Park, it strikes me that the open prairie-like meadows of the parade grounds would be ideal for the Garry Oak. Currently, the majority of trees within the historic district are London Plains. These non-native cultivars were planted at the time of the Fort's construction and so represent a "historical heritage". I would argue that the more important living tree heritage would lie in a threatened Garry oak species, rather than a common urban tree found in many cities of the world. Dozens of them can be found around the Parliament building in London, for example.

The slow growing nature of these trees means that any plantings we do now will not become a significant part of the historic district atmosphere for many years to come. This however is no reaon for inaction. The current tree stock in the historic district is limited and aging - prone to disease, high wind and man-made insults. Now is the time we must examine what we want the historic district vegetation to look like - and take appropriate action.