In the autumn season Wedgwood in northeast Seattle is bright with red, yellow and orange leaves.   Street trees called Flame Ash turn a deep red along 35th Ave NE from NE 84th Street northward to NE 137th where 35th Ave NE merges with Lake City Way NE.

Trees of related Flame Ash varieties such as Raywood, Marshall Seedless and Golden Ash line other nearby arterials such as NE 125th Street from Lake City westward to Roosevelt Way NE.  A guide to street trees is on the City of Seattle Tree Inventory Map.

Flame Ash street trees at the Wedgwood Shopping Center, 8400 35th Ave NE. Photo by Valarie, October 2023.

The original Wedgwood was marked with trees and gateposts

One section of trees not included on the City’s street tree map is on the west side of 35th Ave NE between NE 80th to 84th Streets.  This section is part of the “original Wedgwood” where developer Albert Balch started building houses in the 1940s.  He planted a row of Lawson Cypress trees along 35th Ave NE to screen the backyards of the houses which face 34th Ave NE.

The original Wedgwood development was marked with gateposts at the NE 81st Street entrance. Photo by Valarie.

At that time, when Albert Balch laid out the plan for the first Wedgwood group of houses in the 1940s, the neighborhood still had not come into the City Limits of Seattle.  Street planning regulations are different now.

Today, the Urban Forestry division of Seattle Department of Transportation takes care of street trees such as the Flame Ash along 35th Ave NE.  The row of Lawson Cypress on the west side of 35th Ave NE are actually on private property, belonging to the backyards of each house facing 34th Ave NE.  This is why the row of Lawson Cypress is not included in the list of City of Seattle street trees.

In the midst of the Lawson Cypress trees, Balch set up gateposts at NE 81st Street to mark the main entrance to Wedgwood.  While never intended to support actual gates, the posts served as a marker of entrance and gave a feeling of arrival-at-home to the Wedgwood development.  Today, the gatepost on the north side of NE 81st Street, pictured here, is shadowed by overgrown Lawson Cypress trees.

Lawson Cypress (overgrown) partially concealing the gatepost of Wedgwood at NE 81st Street. On the east side of the street are the townhouses which replaced Balch’s original complex of offices. Photo by Valarie, October 2023.

Gatepost of Wedgwood on the south side of NE 81st Street. Photo by Valarie.

The gatepost of Wedgwood on the south side of NE 81st Street can be seen more clearly where a section of the Lawson Cypress trees were cut down in 2022.  The trees were dying due to root rot so because of the danger of the trees’ falling, the adjacent homeowner had the trees removed.

Balch’s original Wedgwood group of houses was built on forty acres (a five-block square) which had never been developed, on the west side of 35th Ave NE between NE 80th to 85th Streets.

At the time of Balch’s purchase in 1941, the property still had stands of large Douglas fir trees.  Balch preserved the trees in his development plan around the new houses.  The streets of the development were gently winding rather than laid out grid-style and gave the impression of cottages nestled in a park-like wooded tract.

A gap in the row of Lawson Cypress trees, on 35th Ave NE on the south side of NE 81st Street. These trees were diseased and were removed.

Outstanding trees all around Wedgwood 

In addition to the Flame Ash street trees along 35th Ave NE and the prominent Douglas fir throughout the neighborhood, Wedgwood has outstanding trees of several kinds.

A Scarlet Oak at the intersection of NE 77th Street/38th Ave NE is noted in a book, Trees of Seattle, as one of the largest of its kind in the city.  This tree carries the history of early years in Wedgwood when, in the 1920s, the owners of a plant nursery were the likely planters of the Scarlet Oak.

Scarlet Oak tree at the corner of NE 77th Street and 38th Ave NE. Photo by Valarie, October 2023.

The City of Seattle’s Department of Urban Forestry officially recognized the NE 77th Street scarlet oak as a Heritage Tree in 2008, in a ceremony installing a plaque beneath the tree.  This is because the tree is actually “in the street” so it has come under the care of Urban Forestry.

In 2016 the Department of Urban Forestry installed a cable bracing system to help stabilize the scarlet oak.

A tree called a Weeping Alaskan Cedar is very visible at NE 82nd Street on one corner of the Wedgwood Shopping Center.  It is described as “weeping” because of its drooping foliage, as said in Trees of Seattle that it “presents a wilted Dr. Seuss aspect.”  This tree, which looks like a Dr. Seuss character, has a twin located one block to the south in the landscaping of Wedgwood Presbyterian Church at NE 80th Street.

A Weeping Alaskan Cedar tree at the Wedgwood Shopping Center. Photo by Valarie, October 2023.

Big trees in Wedgwood 

We tend to presume that a very tall tree is also very old, but the age of a tree can be difficult to ascertain.  Growth rates vary according to the species of tree and its growing conditions.  The Scarlet Oak mentioned above, is thought to have achieved great height due to optimal growing conditions of both sunshine and water.

Wedgwood is particularly known for its stands of evergreens which can attain great height including cedar, cypress, fir, hemlock, juniper, pine and spruce.

Western Red Cedar Trees 

Close to 40th Ave NE between NE 87th to 89th Streets are blocks which had no houses until the 1940s, except for one house, that of Laurette Stanley. Laurette Stanley was the property owner in the 1920s who lived there and invited Scout groups to experience the woodsy Maple Creek ravine.  A cluster of large Western Red Cedar trees can be found on these blocks from NE 87th to 89th Streets nearest to 40th Ave NE, visible due to their height.

Western Red Cedar at 3849 NE 88th Street in the midst of development. Photo by Valarie, September 2023.

In 2023 alert neighbors noted that a developer had filed a plan to clear two lots of the houses at 3849 NE 88th Street and cut down the trees on the lots, intending to build a denser group of houses. The City of Seattle regulations on tree preservation are not very straightforward and nearby residents disputed whether the developer had the right to have this Western Red Cedar tree cut down.

After extensive protests by neighbors, the developer agreed to leave this particularly large and outstanding Western Red Cedar in place at the edge of the lot. The number of structures to be built, had to be reduced in order to preserve the tree.

In 2023 there was a controversy about this Western Red Cedar tree at 3849 NE 88th Street as to whether the developer had the right to clear the lot in order to build more houses. Photo by Valarie, September 2023.

In some other cases in the Wedgwood neighborhood in which a house is to be demolished and replaced, the developer has engaged an arborist to list the significant trees on the lot.  These plans can be found on the Permit and Property Records page.

For 3234 NE 88th Street, a house which is to be demolished, there is an arborist’s report on the Permit and Property Records page.  The exceptional trees noted in the report include a pine and a cedar to be preserved.

An example of tree preservation occurred at a school site when the new Thornton Creek School was built in 2016, on 40th Ave NE at NE 77th Street.  Along the southern border of the school building on NE 77th Street, two Western Red Cedars were preserved by creating “jogs” in the building.  Inside the building, these hallway alcoves have seating for small group work with large windows looking out at the trees.

Western Red Cedar and street trees alongside Thornton Creek School on NE 77th Street. Photo by Valarie, October 2023.

Citizen activism to preserve Wedgwood’s tree canopy

A tree (nicknamed Astra) was deliberately damaged so that it can be removed for development in March 2024.

In March 2024 another Western Red Cedar tree was in dispute at 3003 NE 88th Street where a developer bought the property and plans to tear down the existing house.  Neighbors witnessed the damage to the tree (with a chain saw) meant to kill the tree and thus eliminate the issue of preservation.

The City of Seattle’s “tree ordinances” have been in dispute.  Throughout Wedgwood it seems that it is the residents themselves who must safeguard Wedgwood’s tree canopy by keeping an eye on house re-building sites.

“Wedgwoodians,” as the residents of the neighborhood are called, are well-informed, alert citizens who will continue to enjoy Wedgwood’s trees.  Wedgwoodians will continue to watch out for the well-being of the natural environment.

Sources:

City Limits info:  most of Wedgwood came into the City Limits of Seattle in 1953.  In 1954 the City Limits were extended to 145th Street as it is today.  The City of Shoreline is contiguous with Seattle, starting on the north side of 145th Street.  Info about annexation of cities and the gradual progression of the City Limits is in this article, Annexed Cities, here on my blog page.

Trees for Seattle – City of Seattle homepage for urban forestry programs.

Trees of Seattle by Arthur Lee Jacobson, 2006 edition.

Canopy of Flame Ash Street trees along 35th Ave NE, 2023.