This image of sandbags propping up an aged mulberry tree in Buddy Attick Park prompted an assortment of reactions from Greenbelters – from treehuggers ready to do anything to save it to others dismissing it as an invasive tree whose time had passed, anyway.   And I wish I could find the original article about it and the letter to the editor prompted by it in the Greenbelt News Review but its search function failed me.

If memory serves, the tree had been misidentified when this propping-up action was taken and the assessment was made that it would cost over $1,000 to save it.  Now that we know it’s considered a weed tree, do we love it any less?

According to Brian Townsend’s posts to the Greenbelters Facebook Group, this red mulberry is on the City’s Significant Tree Tour and a piece of Greenbelt’s history.