Trees, Grounds, Landscaping

On Tuesday, Aug. 31, and Wednesday, Sept. 1, Bartlett Tree Experts will prune and remove dead and hazardous trees on Seattle Children’s hospital campus. This work will occur in the following locations:

• The south side of NE 50th Street west of 44th Avenue NE (the sidewalk will be closed for pedestrian safety)
• The west side of 45th Avenue NE near the Ocean parking garage
• The north side of NE 45th Street near the Metro bus stop and turnaround at the southeast corner of the hospital campus
• The west side of Lot 4 (staff parking) within the campus interior

Two-way traffic will be maintained on all streets. The crew will use chainsaws and chippers, which will generate noise. This tree work is scheduled to take place between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.

If you have questions, please contact Meghan Fuller, manager of Grounds Maintenance, at 206-307-6687.

Starting Wednesday, Sept. 8, through approximately Friday, Sept. 24, work will begin on the NE 45th Street bus stop turnaround. Three new light poles and overhead lighting will be installed at the bus stop near the Ocean Garage. The project will improve lighting and safety at the bus stop. Some minor landscape pruning and plant removals will be required to locate the new lighting.

Please call 206-987-8000 or email construction@seattlechildrens.org with questions.

Grading and landscaping work will begin next week to prepare a site that will serve as a garden respite space for patients and families just south of the Friends of Costco building. Some small trees will be relocated within the garden area during this work, but no trees will be removed. The grading and landscaping work is being done in preparation for a wood garden pavilion that will be assembled onsite later this summer or fall. All materials will be brought in via the adjacent footpaths and materials will be staged in the driveway turn around area just south of the Emergency Department entrance on 40th Ave NE.

All work will take place within standard construction hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Please call 206-987-8000 or email construction@seattlechildrens.org with questions.

On Thursday, April 15, Bartlett Tree Experts will prune and remove hazardous trees between the Ocean parking garage and 45th Avenue NE. This work will occur between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. The crew will use chainsaws and chippers, which will generate noise. We do not anticipate any transportation or parking impacts on 45th Avenue. The tree work is preventative landscaping maintenance and not related to any construction activity at the hospital campus.

If you have questions, please contact Meghan Fuller, manager of Grounds Maintenance, at 206-307-6687.

On Thursday, Feb. 25, Bartlett Tree Experts will be onsite at Seattle Children’s Hospital campus to conduct tree and shrub pruning to improve safety. One dead hazardous tree will be removed.

The work will be performed in several locations along the perimeter of the hospital campus including NE 45^th Street, NE 47^th Street and behind the Sand Point Clinic along the Burke Gilman Trail. The trail connection from Sand Point Way and 40^th Avenue NE to the Burke Gilman Trail may be closed temporarily during this work.

This work will produce some noise from chainsaws and chippers. Work will occur from 9 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m.

If you have questions, please contact Meghan Fuller, manager of Grounds Maintenance, at 206-307-6687.

On Tuesday, Feb. 23, Pacific Topsoils will place mulch at Seattle Children’s hospital campus along the west side of 45th Avenue NE, south of the intersection with NE 47th Street. The mulch will be placed using a blower truck, which will be parked on the west side of 45th Avenue; although the truck will block the west travel lane, vehicles will still have room to drive past.

The blower truck will generate noise, and the mulch will generate some odors. If conditions are dry, the mulch placement could also create some dust. This work will occur from 9 a.m. to approximately 4:30 p.m.

If you have questions, please contact Meghan Fuller, manager of Grounds Maintenance, at 206-307-6687.

On Feb. 10 and Feb. 11, Bartlett Tree Experts will organically amend the soil around four trees in the southwest corner of the hospital campus (near the intersection of 40th Avenue NE and NE 45th Street). This work will occur between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. both days. The crew will use air-pressurized equipment, which will produce some noise. We do not anticipate any transportation or parking impacts.

If you have questions, please contact Meghan Fuller, manager of Grounds Maintenance, at 206-307-6687.

Meghan Fuller, manager of the Grounds department, provided the following update on the landscaping work happening along 45^th Ave NE.

The area between the Ocean parking garage and 45^th Ave NE has been neglected since it was planted in about 2003. If you look from 45th, you’ll see the area is covered with trees – however not one of those trees below the wall was purposely planted; they all blew in as volunteer weed trees. They include cottonwoods, willows, a horse chestnut, quaking aspen, and other trees. They do create a wonderful screen for the neighborhood, however, so that part is a blessing. But unfortunately, the lower area also became filled with dense blackberry – so dense that it has grown up 20+’ in some places, into the trees and to the area above the wall.

Dense blackberry climbs up trees, shades out other plants, and over time kills things trapped underneath it. The area at the north end, above the retaining wall, was so infested that no living plants remained underneath. If you go there now, you’ll notice a large fallen dead pine tree lying on the slope – it’s obviously been there for years, but the blackberry was so incredibly dense and tall, and the area so inaccessible, that we didn’t even know it was in there until we removed the blackberry.

This past Spring, we began the process of renovating the full length of the space above the retaining wall to create a dense but beautiful screen of shrubs and trees for the neighbors.

Here’s a list of what we’re doing:

1. Cut down blackberries and hand dig out the roots.
2. Remove ivy off trees, as that also kills them over time.
3. Remove dead shrubs and trees (we are not removing living plants, just things that are dead or nearly dead).
4. Have our tree company prune off large dead branches that could be a hazard if they fell.
5. Mulch the area to prevent weeds and erosion.
6. This fall, winter, and spring, begin adding trees, shrubs, ferns, and small plants to create a multi-layered canopy and understory of plantings that result in a much more effective visual and sound barrier, not just at the edge of the 45^th sidewalk, but across the full depth of the space.
7. Then we’ll begin clearing & digging the blackberry and dead plants out of the area below the retaining wall. Any hazardous or dead/dying trees will be removed (there are only a few) and the rest of the living trees and shrubs will remain. The area underneath will also be replanted with a mix of trees, shrubs, and understory plantings to add to the visual barrier between the hospital and neighborhood.

Replanting in this area will happen over the next few months to fill in portions of the perimeter where there is visibility to the hospital. To the extent possible, we will select large plants as replacements. Our grounds crew has already installed green landscaping fabric where there are gaps.

As the space comes together and begins to grow in with new plantings, we hope neighbors will be very pleased with it. It is a much-needed improvement that will be designed to last years into the future. Please know that I am very committed to creating and maintaining an effective and beautiful barrier between the hospital and neighborhood – and as a grounds manager, it’s important to me that it’s healthy and sustainable for years to come, and does not include weed infestations, hazardous trees, or areas so dense that they cannot be maintained.

Tree Work at Hospital Campus, Sept. 14 to Sept. 18

Bartlett Tree Experts is scheduled to perform tree work at the Seattle Children’s hospital campus from Monday, Sept. 14, to Friday, Sept. 18. The work includes removing trees that are dying or hazardous, pruning healthy trees to remove dead or low branches, and removing branches leaning on structures.

Activities will take place throughout the hospital campus, including along the perimeters. Bucket trucks will temporarily park on the south side of NE 50th Street, the west side of 45th Avenue NE, and the north side of NE 45th Street. We do not expect any traffic impacts; the sidewalks, however, will be closed in those areas while work is underway.

Crews will use chainsaws and chippers, which will generate noise, each day from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. We expect this work will have minimal impact on the perimeter tree buffer.

If you have questions, please contact Meghan Fuller, manager of Grounds Maintenance, at 206-307-6687.

On Wednesday, July 8, Bartlett Tree Experts will remove some dead and dying trees from around the perimeter of Seattle Children’s hospital campus. The work will occur along the south side of NE 47th Street, the west side of 45th Avenue NE, and the north side of NE 45th Street. Crews will use chainsaws and chippers, which will generate noise. We do not expect any traffic impacts. This work will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We will replant to fill any visible holes in the fall.

If you have questions, please contact Meghan Fuller, manager of Grounds Maintenance, at 206-307-6687.