the global challenge:
There are London Planetrees taller than the tree in Walla Walla, or with a larger girth, but we are not aware of any with the combined height, girth and crown spread of this tree.
We have distributed this challenge to the tree community worldwide. We invite communities from around the world to measure their monumental London Planetrees and compare the results.
New this year:
We have made the following changes for 2022:
- Measurements are given in metric as well as imperial units.
- We have added a column for the area of shade cast by the crown.
We will add a column for mass of the tree (largest trunk wood volume) when the technology is available to us.
monumental trees:
The global tree community has an abundance of registers of monumental trees. We have consulted the following:
- TROBI, the Tree Register of the British Isles. The foundational register of legacy and monumental trees.
- The New Zealand Tree Register, a project of the NZ Notable Trees Trust
- The National Register of Big Trees (Australia)
- The Tasmanian Big Tree Register
- The National Register of Champion Trees (US)
The stake in foreground is at 200′ from the tree; figure in middle distance is 100′ from the tree.
MonumentalTrees.com is the exhaustive database of the world’s largest trees, listed by height and girth (but not crown spread). The site includes nearly 54,000 trees and over 130,000 images, uploaded by tree stewards from around the world. It is a resource for the ages. This is the go-to web site for anyone interested in comparing champion trees.
Guidelines:
Tree People has adopted several guidelines from the Australian National Register of Big Trees, including the following:
champion status:
All nominations, tree species, and measurements are taken on trust. The underlying determination of a Champion is that it is a Champion until challenged.
base point:
To have a standard system of height and circumference measurement, the point at which the tree germinated must be estimated. It is this base point from which height is measured, and also the base point from which the 1.4m trunk height is established for the measurement of circumference. Many of the bigger trees have large accumulations of bark, twigs and/or leaves around the base. Taking the 1.4m measuring height from the top of this litter will give an incorrect measurement of both height and girth.
pith:
All trees must have a single stem, or in other words, a single pith.
a special appeal:
Tree People of Walla Walla reminds the stewards of our urban canopy that mature trees do not require routine maintenance; They should not be trimmed or pruned with the sole exception of The Four D’s.
This rule applies especially to our monumental heritage trees, which are a special gift to our communities.
Note:
This page is updated annually on Earth Day. To read our notes on measuring trees, to view a celebratory video about this tree, or to learn the backstory of this particular tree read our previous entry, Measuring the Great London Planetree: 2021
Tree People of Walla Walla 