Bainbridge community comes together to save ailing madrona grove

Nick Benovich of Port Orchard-based business The Lawn Jockey sprays a biological treatment on a grove of madronas outside the Bainbridge Island Waterfront Park Community Center.

image credit: Cecilia Garza | Bainbridge Island Review

Back in the 1890s, Bainbridge Island was called the town of Madrone after a madrona tree that stood near the Port Blakely dock.

More than a century later, a group of citizens have come together to protect Bainbridges historical trees.

We looked at each other and said, We can do that! said Jo Schaffer.

Schaffer, along with Nancy Lewars, were on a historical tree tour last month led by resident and tree consultant Olaf Ribiero that channeled through downtown Winslow.

The last stop on the tour was a grove of 17 ailing madrona trees outside the Bainbridge Island Community Center.

Ribeiro told the small group that while the trees have been here for more than 50 years, and are the last cluster of madronas in the Winslow area, they wouldnt last much longer.

The aging trees, he said, were suffering from a root disease that if left untreated would kill the whole grove.

Unfortunately, Ribeiro added, the treatment would cost about $2,000.

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Bainbridge community comes together to save ailing madrona grove