MLK Day of Service and other notes for your West Seattle Monday

| Holidays | West Seattle news

Thanks to Noodle and crew for the photo from a West Seattle walk in the fog. Below, a few notes for this Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday Monday:

WHAT’S CLOSED
-Schools
–Libraries
–Most Seattle Parks facilities
-Banks
–Post Offices

As for what’s happening:

POP-UP CLEANUP: Other MLK Day of Service events in our area are full – volunteer capacities have long been restricted because of the pandemic – but you can grab a bag and go join the pop-up cleanup along Harbor Avenue SW, 10 am-noon, as previewed right after we got word of it last night.

BETTY WHITE CHALLENGE A reader asked us if any local animal-advocate groups was joining this nationwide fundraiser honoring what would have been Betty White‘s 100th birthday today. Furry Faces Foundation has decided to jump in:

We are proud to join Betty White’s Challenge! Please consider donating $5 in honor of Betty White…she still lives with all of us in our hearts and minds,

Thank you for your consideration. Donations may be made to our PayPal account – furryfaces@hotmail.com – or mailed to 3809 46th Ave SW, Seattle, 98116. For more information about Furry Faces Foundation, go here.

anonyme January 17, 2022 (10:24 am)

I love fog, and the photo is nice. Street trees that have been horribly butchered by untrained and unpermitted tree assassins – not so much.

Dana Burns January 17, 2022 (11:03 am)

Hear, hear. Thx for speaking the truth.

⚄ January 17, 2022 (10:43 am)

I’m not an arborist, but I believe this form of tree pruning is called pollarding. Here’s an explanation: Nowadays pollarding is beneficial to our gardens for a wide range of reasons, it is an effective way to reduce the amount of shade cast by trees, it prevents trees from outgrowing their local environment and can also be necessary in urban situations where trees might hinder neighbouring properties or overhead cables

😎 January 17, 2022 (11:31 am)

Thx for the info – – I learned something new today!
anonyme January 17, 2022 (12:16 pm)

I am a retired arborist with a certificate in urban forestry. Pollarding is rarely “necessary”, especially in regard to ornamental street trees. The practice originated over a thousand years ago as a way to harvest kindling and wood for fuel. The fast-growing water sprouts that erupt from these brutal cuts were a way to ensure continual growth. It was never meant to be pretty – and it isn’t. Sometimes orchard trees are pollarded, but there’s really no justifiable use for this practice in urban settings. There are legitimate pruning and planting practices to deal with issues of overhead cables, etc. None of them involve pollarding. What was done to the street trees in this photo is not only ugly but illegal.
- Not a Green Thumb January 17, 2022 (2:03 pm)
  
  Thank you for that great explanation Anonyme! It is so easy for even an amateur gardener like myself to see how horrible this technique is for trees and the aftermath. I generally assumed it was just lazy landscape companies or homeowners trying to save a few bucks or ensure keep a view.

R2 January 17, 2022 (10:58 am)

Absolutely love the photo!

StopCuttingDownTrees January 17, 2022 (11:19 am)

Those badly-mutilated trees look like alien pod trees in a scene from ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’.

WSCurmudgeon January 17, 2022 (1:23 pm)

Pollarding is an ancient agricultural practice:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollarding

It’s used on specific broadleaf trees. Yews are the only conifer on which it can be used. The trees in the photo, I am pretty sure, are on property in Admiral a couple of blocks West of California. They have been pollarded for many years. The entire property is well tended, and the gardens are beautiful.

Sorry, comment time is over.