Civic News

Help a tree near you grow with this app

DDOT's new tree watering app helps find and track young trees that need some help to grow.

The D.C. Trees app helps find a tree that needs water. (Screenshot courtesy DDOT)

The act of planting trees is a big sign of intent to green the city.

During the most recent October-April planting season, D.C. government looked to make a big statement by planting 8,200 trees. According to stats from the District Department of Transportation, that increases the urban canopy by 38.7 percent. (Here’s the full map.)

But in order to keep flourishing, the trees need upkeep. First on the list: watering.

DDOT is looking to residents for help, and they believe an app can help target their efforts.

Launched this month, the D.C. Tree Watering Application has features to locate young trees that need a drink by entering an address. To track the trees, there’s also an option to take a photo and upload it to a story. If a tree needs a little special help, there’s a feature to report an issue to DDOT. It’s powered by Esri.

Check it out

Using tech to tend to trees is a budding approach in city government. New York recently rolled out a map of every tree in the city, our sister site Technical.ly Brooklyn reported.

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