County is home to plethora of prodigious trees

State champion trees are historical relics, a source of pride for residents

Garrett, a senior ranger with the Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation, is in charge of the county’s catalog of big trees — a list of the individual specimens that are the largest known examples of their species.

The county’s 143 big trees — from a black cherry along Molly Berry Road in Brandywine to a Virginia pine at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel — are giants that in many cases have been growing for hundreds of years, Garrett said.

Prince George’s County is home to 18 state champion trees, second only to Montgomery County’s 31, according to the Maryland Big Tree program, which tracks the state champions.

An American holly and a mockernut hickory, both in Upper Marlboro, are the county’s only national champions, according to the environmental nonprofit American Forests, which keeps a national list.

‘‘You guys have some really wonderful trees down there,” said John Bennett, volunteer coordinator of the Maryland Big Tree program. American Forests is based in Washington, D.C.

To keep up with the big tree list, coordinators rely on people phoning in when they think they have identified a contender in their neighborhood, while walking through a park, or while driving down a road.

Garrett said it can be a source of pride for property owners to know they have the county’s biggest tree, and to know how it ranks against its peers across the nation.

‘‘Some people like the idea of having a magnificent tree that could be 300 or 400 years old in their yard,” Garrett said. ‘‘Who knows what kind of meetings might have taken place under it, or who sat under it. It’s like having a piece of history in your yard.”

The sprawling branches of the state’s biggest cucumber magnolia shade a huge corner of the yard at the historic Kingston house in Upper Marlboro. The tree is 100 feet tall and its trunk has a nearly 20-foot circumference.

‘‘It’s a fantastic tree. Everybody who comes by looks at that tree and can’t believe it,” said Matt Clagett, whose family owns the 273-year-old plantation house.

The Kingston house also boasts the county’s largest European linden in the front yard.

Marylanders have been tracking their big trees since 1925, longer than any other state, Bennett said.

The Maryland Big Tree program used to be managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and its foresters, but recent budget cuts forced them to drop it, Bennett said. Last year it was adopted by the Maryland Association of Forest Conservancy District Boards, an organization of volunteer forest advocates.

There are many possible explanations for why Prince George’s has so many state champion trees, Garrett said. There is good soil because of its history as a farming county, and many big trees have been able to grow undisturbed on historic or public land.

But a lot of it comes down to the number of residents and nature enthusiasts who took the time over the years to keep an eye out for big trees, Garrett said.

‘‘There might be just as many state champions in other counties, but people didn’t notice them,” he said.

Garrett, 39, has been handling the county’s list for about three years.

Much of his list-related work consists of venturing through backyards, along roadsides and in forests, taking the measurements of big trees and using a point system to see how they stack up against the biggest in the county, state and nation.

A tree’s point score is determined by a formula that includes measuring the trunk diameter, tree height and breadth of the branches, also known as the crown spread.

Two people can take all the measurements from the ground by using tape measures and a clinometer, a device that uses angles to determine an object’s height.

Champion trees should be re-measured every five to 10 years, Bennett said.

Garrett, who also volunteers to track big trees in Calvert County, said he is trying to revive local interest in big trees. In the past, the county had a larger number of naturalists who actively kept up with the area’s big trees, but their numbers have dwindled in recent years, Garrett said.

Garrett said he gets no more than one phone call a month about a big tree sighting.

‘‘It used to be a big deal. People used to care about it,” said Garrett, who lives in Calvert County but spent most of his life in Prince George’s.

He said his efforts include putting together a booklet that will provide information on the program and list the current champions.

Part of the goal is to ‘‘maybe get some competition going among residents,” he said.