As Alexandria’s city arborist, one of John Noelle’s annual tasks is acquiringthe city’s holiday tree each November. Once again, Noelle is trying to find just the right evergreen to grace Alexandria’s market square during the holidays. The tree will be lighted in a special ceremony Nov. 23.
What kind of tree do you need, and where are you looking for it?
It should look like any run-of-the-mill Christmas tree. … The tree should be 25 to 30 feet tall, and it should be accessible from the street. … We’ll travel to wherever we can find one. The farthest I’ve traveled was out to Herndon.
Is it hard to find someone willing to donate a tree?
Desperation sets in around the second week of November. This is my 19th holiday tree to find. There have been some desperate years, but we’ve always been able to find someone willing.
What do you do the rest of the year?
I’m responsible for trees on public land, mostly on streets, in parks, and schools. Most of our work is on the street, pruning, removing dead or dying trees, and replanting. … There’s about 17,000 street trees. We remove about 300 a year and replace 300 to 400. Based on the street mileage, we think we’ll be able to increase the number to 20,000.
How has the drought impacted your trees?
The drought has been devastating. The first to suffer are the trees most recently planted. After a length of time, even large trees begin to suffer. … We’re replacing a number of trees due to drought, but we’ll really see problems next year when the mature trees try to come back.
How did you get into this kind of work?
I brought a small tree business out from Chicago in the 1980s, working for developers. I was looking for something else to do, and this came open. –
