The Ballard Playground London Planes

Two London planes stand twenty metres apart at Ballard Playground, and the city measures them as near twins: trunks 76 and 75 inches across at chest height, each close to 20 feet round. Then they part company upward. One reaches 80 feet, the other stops at 64. Both carry Seattle's Heritage Tree designation, and standing between them you see them as one sight: two trunks more than six feet thick, sharing a corner of a neighbourhood playground in Ballard. The city last surveyed them in 2019 and recorded both in good condition. That survey is close to everything anyone has written down. No planting date has been published, no local history names them, and as far as we can find nobody has photographed them for any public collection. So the age is open, and so is the story: who planted a pair of planes this size beside a playground, and when. If you know, tell us. The pin marks the larger tree, which sits inside the playground. Its partner stands a short way north, and we have not confirmed whether it is inside the park boundary or just beyond it. The playground borders a school site, so look from the park side and leave the school grounds alone.