In the autumn season Wedgwood’s flame ash street trees enliven the arterial 35th Ave NE with brilliant color.

Flame ash street trees in the 9800 block of 35th Ave NE in October 2025. Photo courtesy of JRV.

Flame ash street trees in Wedgwood, as viewed from the corner of NE 87th Street in October 2025. Photo courtesy of JRV.

The flame ash trees along 35th Ave NE were planted during a City of Seattle Street Tree program circa 1970.  The trees are now more than fifty years old.  Some of the trees are quite tall, and some have fallen in storms such as the “bomb cyclone” of November 19, 2024.

Today the City of Seattle continues to plant street trees but uses smaller species.  We can see these replacements in some places along the arterial, where pin oak or varieties of Japanese maples have been planted.

Street trees in Wedgwood’s business district on 35th Ave NE.  A smaller tree in the foreground has replaced one of the larger flame ash trees alongside the Wedgwood Shopping Center.

Wedgwood’s flame ash street trees extend from the Wedgwood Shopping Center at NE 84th Street, northward out along 35th Ave NE to NE 137th Street, to where the arterial merges with Lake City Way NE.

In recent years some of the flame ash street trees have been removed from 35th Ave NE, especially in The Confluence between NE 107th to 115th Streets.  The Confluence is the area where the two main branches of the Thornton Creek system converge.  The low area of 35th Ave NE in the Confluence is where abundant water may have caused the flame ash street trees to grow especially tall.  Some of these trees have been removed because they were leaning into the street.

At the main intersection of NE 85th Street in Wedgwood, street trees beautify the arterial 35th Ave NE. Photo by Valarie, October 2025.

Changes in 2026?

In 2026 there is the possibility of a redevelopment of the Wedgwood Shopping Center at the southeast corner of NE 85th Street in Wedgwood.  A developer wants to demolish all the current buildings on this block and build a new complex with apartments, and with a grocery store at street level.  If this redevelopment goes ahead, demolition of the present shopping center will begin not earlier than September 2026.

Flame ash street trees alongside the Wedgwood Shopping Center, looking northward along 35th Ave NE at NE 85th Street. Photo by Valarie, October 2025.

The flame ash street trees in this block, along the sidewalk from NE 82nd to 85th Streets, would be removed because the sidewalk would be redone as part of the proposed redevelopment.  In addition to building a wider sidewalk, the developer will be required to plant new street trees, likely a smaller variety such as Japanese maples.

Looking in a southeasterly direction toward the Wedgwood Shopping Center at NE 85th Street, we see the present row of flame ash trees. Photo by Valarie, October 2025.

Two trees at NE 82nd Street, the south end of the shopping center block, are on the property itself and are not “street trees.”  Space for the existing Douglas Fir tree and a Weeping Alaskan Cedar is to be created via setbacks in the new building.

Weeping Alaskan Cedar at NE 82nd Street, at the south end of the Wedgwood Shopping Center.  The project board at right, tells of possible redevelopment of the property.   Photo by Valarie, October 2025.