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Measuring the White Oak at Bronte Provincial Park		 The Oak
 
Live thy Life,
Young and old,
Like yon oak,
Bright in spring,
Living gold;		 Summer-rich
Then; and then
Autumn-changed
Soberer-hued
Gold again.		 All his leaves
Fall'n at length,
Look, he stands,
Trunk and bough
Naked strength.

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)

Arboriculture - Part 1
by Catherine Kavassalis 

This past year, as an organizer for the Great Oakville Heritage Tree Hunt, I had the great pleasure of visiting some of Oakville's most beautiful trees. I found that Oakville is home to some truly spectacular giants. In Bronte Provincial Park stands our largest white oak, with a trunk measuring six and a half meters (20 feet) around and branches spanning more than 30 meters (60 feet). A back yard at Trafalgar and McDonald is home to another resplendent white oak with a wider canopy still, and they are both rivaled in spread by several magnificent maples. By virtue of their age, scale and beauty, few plants evoke human emotions as viscerally as these venerable giants.  But trees of any age and size can add interest to the garden.

Trees can be selected for form, texture, color, fragrance, and even for the sounds they make. Imagine a conifer garden with a mix of arborvitae, cryptomeria, false cypress, fir, juniper, larch, spruce and pine. A fine tapestry of maples (Acer spp.) could be composed using a profusion of palmatums, paperbarks and pensylvanicums along with sampling of our lovely indigenous maple species: the black, red, silver, sugar and mountain maples. Fragrant trees like hosrechestnuts, cherries, or lindens can add spice to garden air. For an acoustic treat, think about a whispering pine, raspy beech, rustling oak, tinkling ash, twittering aspen or clacking cottonwood. Arboriculture - the selection, planting and care of trees can be tremendously rewarding.

It is important to remember that trees are not simply landscape features, they provide many other services. They stabilize soil, help to maintain the water balance, provide habitats for plants and animals, give shade, provide wind breaks, screen neighbouring properties, reduce noise, filter particles from the air, take up carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and produce oxygen. In addition, research suggests that the presence of trees reduces crime, reduces traffic accidents, decreases recuperation times from illness, increases property values, increases worker productivity, increases shopper satisfaction ... and the list goes on.  Knowing all these benefits can make the gardener feel good about indulging in the simple pleasure of cultivating their arboreal treasures.

When deciding what to plant, consider your site conditions: soil, exposure, drainage, space, hardiness, and potential pest and disease problems. Preference should be given to native species that are suited to weather and soil conditions and enhance natural biodiversity. Avoid alien invasive species like the European and glossy buckthorns or autumn olive. Beyond selecting trees for beauty and site conditions, consider accruing the other benefits of trees. For instance Dr. David Nowak of the USDA Forest Service advises that "small, fuzzy leaves take up the most types of pollution." Evergreen trees and shrubs on the north sides of your home can block cold winter winds and reduce heating costs by 10-20%, while planting deciduous shade trees to the east and west of your home can cut cooling costs by 15-30%. Planting fruit and nut trees can provide food for you and wildlife. A well-chosen tree will give you a lifetime of pleasure. I will provide more information on arboriculture and tips for shade gardening, over the coming months.

Shortly, I will begin working to organize the 2008 Heritage Tree Hunt. If you are interested in helping, please give me a call (905-849-7581). It will be a great deal of fun and a tremendous opportunity to learn about our local trees.

 

May toads nestle in your flower beds and help you tend your beauties in the spring.

 

 

Resources and References and Interesting tidbits:

 

 Interesting quotes and tidbit:

 
The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.  Some see Nature all ridicule and
deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all.  But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.

William Blake, 1799, The Letters 

That each day I may walk unceasingly on the banks of my water, that my soul may repose on the branches of the trees which I planted, that I may refresh myself under the shadow of my sycomore. [perhaps Ficus Sycomorus]

 -Egyptian tomb inscription, circa 1400 BCE (variant in Jan Assman's Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt p 456)
 
The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, 'In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!'
They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum; and they charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see'em. Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
-- Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi off Joni from "Ladies Of The Canyon," May 1970
 
If a tree dies, plant another in its place.
-- Carolus Linnaeus (quoted in the David Damkaer's Copepodologist's Cabinet, 2002, p. 44)
 
Trees are the only part of infrastructure that actually appreciate in value while the rest depreciates.
-- Pepper Provenzano
 
The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson from a conversation with John Muir
 
It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson, in Essays of Travel: Forest Notes — 1875-6
 
To exist as a nation, to prosper as a state, and to live as a people, we must have trees
-- attributed to both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt but I can find no source e.g. Presidency Project - let me know if you find out who actually said this
 
No town can fail of beauty ... if venerable trees make magnificent colonnades along its streets.
-- ascribed to Henry Ward Beecher,1813-1887, and it is consistent with his discourse in Experiences of art and nature, but I have been unable to locate the exact source

There are a plethora or sites with lovely quotations about trees by famous folk, however they may not be properly sourced (Quote Verifier)

 

Resources and References:

Invasive Tree Species

Tree Selection

Tree Planting

Acer/Maple tree resources:

Worldwide there are over 100 species of maple with 10 species being native to Canada.

    A list of some recommended Maples for Zone 5 (see forums for discussion like Garden Webs maple forum http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/maple/ Maple Forum)

Benefits of Trees

Misc