Help a tree near you grow with this app

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.

"Trees are the kindest things I know.
They do no harm. They simply grow."

Please help us 💦💦💦 them https://t.co/3lvaE9trSE#backtobasicsDC pic.twitter.com/gyTbLIRSbr

— Muriel Bowser (@MurielBowser) June 12, 2017

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.

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.