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This Beech tree was already a giant when I was a child. My great grandparents planted it in the early part of the last century. They lived in a grand house on the property. The estate was called Green Gables and occupied most of the city block. The h...

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Location: North_tabor Author: Marilyn K.

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This Beech tree was already a giant when I was a child. My great grandparents planted it in the early part of the last century. They lived in a grand house on the property. The estate was called Green Gables and occupied most of the city block. The house was demolished in the 1960's and replaced with a parking lot. But the tree remains.

Since I grew up just a few blocks away I was able to visit the tree often. It's a fantastic tree to climb. Many kids in the neighborhood would gather there and loved climbing the tree.

I'm not sure when it started, but by the time I was in about 5th grade the tree had taken on a nickname - The Love Tree. It's soft bark was ideal for carving and many initials and even phrases were carved in the tree. I carved the tree several times myself. My initials + whatever lucky guy I had a crush on at the time. The tree became covered in carvings.

Even after moving from the area I sometimes take the long way home to drive through the old neighborhood. I always drive by the tree. Yep! Still there.

This is actually a pair of Blue Spruces that grow on the south side of our house on a rise at the east end of a small pond. In another setting they might be more notable, but here they are between a large Deodar Cedar (187) and a tall Weeping Birch...

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Location: Hillsdale Author: John B.

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This is actually a pair of Blue Spruces that grow on the south side of our house on a rise at the east end of a small pond. In another setting they might be more notable, but here they are between a large Deodar Cedar (187) and a tall Weeping Birch (6717) and just become part of the larger group. They help keep the southern part of our yard shaded in the summer and their dark color makes a great backdrop each spring for the white blossoms on the dogwood in our front yard. This past Summer I watched Crows harass a Barred Owl in the northern of the pair. The Spruces are the center trees in the attached photo, between the Cedar on the left and the Weeping Birch behind and to the right of them.

The Deodar Cedar (187 on the survey) in the southeast corner of our yard is the biggest tree on our property. It has lost some branches over the years and gets pruned by the utility companies to protect the power and phone lines along Dosch Road, bu...

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Canopy Story

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Location: Hillsdale Author: John B.

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The Deodar Cedar (187 on the survey) in the southeast corner of our yard is the biggest tree on our property. It has lost some branches over the years and gets pruned by the utility companies to protect the power and phone lines along Dosch Road, but seems to be very healthy and continues to produce lots of cones and new growth. Being in the corner of the lot with hedges under two sides, it defines a small low-traffic area that really doesn't get visited much. It's shade creates a microclimate area with holly and trillium and ferns and azaleas and rhododendrons growing under it. I only learned recently that this tree is native to the western Himalaya region and not a Pacific Northwest native. Its a landmark for anyone going up or down Dosch Road. In the attached photo its on the left margin, with Spruces (147) and Weeping Birch (6717) in the middle of the picture beyond the house.

This big Silver Maple (115 on the survey) is the centerpiece of our yard. It can be seen from all of the neighbors' yards and shades our back yard and house from west sun. It has had rope and tire swings hung from it when our kids were young, and p...

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Canopy Story

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Location: Hillsdale Author: John B.

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This big Silver Maple (115 on the survey) is the centerpiece of our yard. It can be seen from all of the neighbors' yards and shades our back yard and house from west sun. It has had rope and tire swings hung from it when our kids were young, and probably will again soon now that grandchildren are appearing. It was a big tree when we moved in over thirty years ago, but has continued to grow and spread. It has a large hollow in one of the trunks that has been a home to birds, squirrels, racoons and honeybees over the years. We've been told that we shouldn't expect it to live a whole lot longer, but we've had arborists prune and feed it and hope that we can keep it healthy as long as possible. We've planted an Oregon White Oak under it to grow up and take its place in the hopefully distant future.

Port Orferd Cedar: I have known this tree and watched it grow for 40 years and have discovered that it is a natural cover for birds, especially those that overwinter in and around my yard. It is an important ecological feature as well as impressive...

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Location: Hayhurst Author: Bill B.

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Port Orferd Cedar: I have known this tree and watched it grow for 40 years and have discovered that it is a natural cover for birds, especially those that overwinter in and around my yard. It is an important ecological feature as well as impressive.

I'm pretty sure this green dot is on the weeping birch tree on the south edge of our property. It forms a beautiful south border to the central part of our yard and provides nicely filtered sunlight into the coolest part of our yard on hot days. it...

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Canopy Story

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Location: Bridlemile Author: John B.

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I'm pretty sure this green dot is on the weeping birch tree on the south edge of our property. It forms a beautiful south border to the central part of our yard and provides nicely filtered sunlight into the coolest part of our yard on hot days. it is equally attractive when viewed from our neighbors' yards to the south and I actually expect that they would miss it more than us if it went away, since we see it mainly when we are outside and not so much from inside the house. We've been told by arborists that it is unusual for a weeping birch to get this big - that they are vulnerable to disease. We've been in this house for over 30 years and this was a mature tree when we arrived.

If this is the tree I think it is, it's located in front of the library at PSU. I was a student and/or an employee at Portland State for many years -- and always loved this tree -- even before the built the Millar Library.

This is one of my favorite trees -- actually, it's a clump of trees that have grown together, a clump of big leaf maple trees. It's a wonderful place to rest when walking/running the fitness trail that goes around the edge of the golf course at Glend...

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Location: Hazelwood Author: Linda R.

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This is one of my favorite trees -- actually, it's a clump of trees that have grown together, a clump of big leaf maple trees. It's a wonderful place to rest when walking/running the fitness trail that goes around the edge of the golf course at Glendoveer (owned by Metro).

This appears to be the tallest of the many mature trees in the wooded area of Gateway Green, a new park under development on land located between the I-205 and I-84 interstate highways. The property has MANY trees that are at least 100 ft tall.

This is a beautiful tree that needs to be protected. It's near the edge of a vacant lot that is now owned by the Portland Housing Bureau. The Hazelwood Neighborhood Association tried to get it designated as a heritage tree two or three years ago, but...

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Canopy Story

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Location: Hazelwood Author: Linda R.

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This is a beautiful tree that needs to be protected. It's near the edge of a vacant lot that is now owned by the Portland Housing Bureau. The Hazelwood Neighborhood Association tried to get it designated as a heritage tree two or three years ago, but the Housing Bureau refused to sign off on the application in order to preserve their ability to cut it when they are ready to build affordable housing on the site. This is in an area that has very few trees of any kind. Any building they do on the site needs to be designed around this tree. I think, but am not certain, that it is an Atlas Cedar.

I planted this cedar tree (or tree #281) while we were living at 10309 NE Shaver St. It was planted sometime between 1975 and 1985. It was a volunteer that came up in the yard, and I moved it to the back corner of the property.

Bethel Baptist Church is home to two huge cedars which preside over and protect a small grassy park. Pictured is a group of artists gathered on August 12th, 2018, and a painting of the cedars made that day.

Merlin Radke was more than just an auto parts dealer in St. Johns— he was a great lover of trees. He loved trees so much that over decades of developing property adjacent to his auto parts store at Columbia and Fessenden, he constructed an entire com...

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Canopy Story

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Location: St_johns_south Author: Elliott W.

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Merlin Radke was more than just an auto parts dealer in St. Johns— he was a great lover of trees. He loved trees so much that over decades of developing property adjacent to his auto parts store at Columbia and Fessenden, he constructed an entire compound of buildings actually built around the trees, right through the roofs… so there is most of a city a block of buildings that have huge trees growing right out of the roofs! He even made special architectural accommodation for some maples that are only 4" in diameter. Merlin Radke should be an inspiration to us all about just how to think about developing our individual places in a community, and the Radke trees are a featured subject for the local Painting to Save the Trees in St. Johns event, where artists work from life creating tree portraits in an attempt to give these these trees the first-class citizenship they deserve.

This local landmark property once was home to the first doctor to arrive in the area from the Oregon Trail, and now there stands here a small historic Victorian house from 1870, surrounded by majestic maples, hundreds of years old, which protect the...

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Location: Cathedral_park Author: Elliott W.

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This local landmark property once was home to the first doctor to arrive in the area from the Oregon Trail, and now there stands here a small historic Victorian house from 1870, surrounded by majestic maples, hundreds of years old, which protect the land even now. Tree 611 has a well-used tire swing, and Tree 596 gives shelter to a domestic duck pen. Dozens of tree-portrait paintings have been done of Tree 585, as well as the rest of the site, in the Painting to Save the Trees in St. Johns project, a community effort to prevent special trees from being needlessly cut down during re-development.

This is a large cedar on my property. I have been variously told by arborists that it is a Deodar and that it is a Cedar of Lebanon. I believe it is probably taller than 69 feet -- the respective heights of trees on your mapping of our neighborhood...

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Canopy Story

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Location: Island_station Author: Lisa B.

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This is a large cedar on my property. I have been variously told by arborists that it is a Deodar and that it is a Cedar of Lebanon. I believe it is probably taller than 69 feet -- the respective heights of trees on your mapping of our neighborhood does not strike me as reflecting reality on the ground.

But this tree and the other large cedar behind my home were big selling points when I bought the home in 2002. The home was built in 1912, and I suspect the trees are that old or older, but I don't have any reliable info on that. They are home to raccoons and squirrels, and regular hangouts for crows and countless other birds. This tree, which appears to have been topped many years ago, lost all the limbs on one side in a winter storm in early 2016, where ice and snow built up, broke a top limb, which then broke off all limbs below it as it fell.

I have lived in the same corner, apartment, for nearly 18 years~ ~and a few years ago~the previous owners, put in a 5'X7' window, facing the West, Forest Park and the Willamette River~A Window, I call~~ 'My Window To The World'~~The picture, below, w...

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Canopy Story

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Location: Cathedral_park Author: Lopaka A.

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I have lived in the same corner, apartment, for nearly 18 years~ ~and a few years ago~the previous owners, put in a 5'X7' window, facing the West, Forest Park and the Willamette River~A Window, I call~~ 'My Window To The World'~~The picture, below, was taken from My Window~~And 'My Two Trees'~~Dominate The Picture~~Being from Hawaii, each time I see a 'Contrail of a passing jet'~~~I Imagine, it is heading for My Home State Of Hawaii~~The Home Of My Heart, since I was born and raised there~~However, having lived in the Pacific Northwest for nearly~~27 years now~~OREGON IS MY HOME!~~In the past few years, I have taken 'numerous pictures of 'My Trees' and other trees in the area~~And Needless to say~~'Numerous Pictures of the 'Majestic St. Johns Bridge, that I see from My Bedroom Window, each and every night before I go to bed~~And Each and Every Morning~~When I Waken to Face A New Day!~~~~~AM I BLESSED OR WHAT?!?!?

This was the massive tree in front of my Grandma's house growing up. Made a ramp out of the sidewalk, and lots of droppings to throw. Difficult to climb, but managed to a couple times. Glad to see it is still there with all the new construction ha...

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Location: Sellwood_moreland_improvement_league Author: Douglas S.

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This was the massive tree in front of my Grandma's house growing up. Made a ramp out of the sidewalk, and lots of droppings to throw. Difficult to climb, but managed to a couple times. Glad to see it is still there with all the new construction happening.

My sister planted this tree when her school gave her kindergarten class a tree sapling to take home. Mom and dad used to hate it because it blocked the valley views, but now it has become a nice buffer between their home and residential and commercia...

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Location: Sylvan_highlands Author: hans P.

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My sister planted this tree when her school gave her kindergarten class a tree sapling to take home. Mom and dad used to hate it because it blocked the valley views, but now it has become a nice buffer between their home and residential and commercial expansion since then.

This tree possibly is a blue or white spruce planted by my parents in the back yard of the home where I grew up at 4913 NE Pacific St. They found the tree as a sapling growing somewhere on the N. Oregon coast in about 1939-1940, dug it up, and plante...

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Canopy Story

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Location: Rose_city_park Author: Richard C.

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This tree possibly is a blue or white spruce planted by my parents in the back yard of the home where I grew up at 4913 NE Pacific St. They found the tree as a sapling growing somewhere on the N. Oregon coast in about 1939-1940, dug it up, and planted at their home. As with many conifers in this area, its top was broken off in the Columbus Day 1962 storm, leaving it now with a split trunk at about 30 feet above the base. I always marvel at its tenacity as I sometimes stroll by on long walks through Frazer Park (possibly the subject of another tree story?). The attached photo taken in winter 1965 shows the storm damaged (topped) tree at the far left against the back fence bordering Frazer Park.

This tree possibly is a blue or white spruce planted by my parents in the back yard of the home where I grew up at 4913 NE Pacific St. They found the tree as a sapling growing somewhere on the N. Oregon coast in about 1939-1940, dug it up, and plant...

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Canopy Story

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Location: Rose_city_park Author: Richard C.

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This tree possibly is a blue or white spruce planted by my parents in the back yard of the home where I grew up at 4913 NE Pacific St. They found the tree as a sapling growing somewhere on the N. Oregon coast in about 1939-1940, dug it up, and planted at their home. As with many conifers in this area, its top was broken off in the Columbus Day 1962 storm, leaving it now with a split trunk at about 30 feet above the base. I always marvel at its tenacity as I sometimes stroll by on long walks through Frazer Park (possibly the subject of another tree story?).