Egardening
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Oakville Heritage Tree Hunts 2007 and 2008
by Catherine Kavassalis for Oakvillegreen Conservation Association (OCA)
January 2009
A heritage tree is
a notable specimen because of its size, form, shape,
beauty, age, colour, rarity, genetic constitution, or other distinctive
features; a living relic that displays evidence of cultural modification
by Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal people, including strips of bark or
knot-free wood removed, test hole cut to determine soundness, furrows
cut to collect pitch or sap, or blazes to mark a trail; a prominent
community landmark; a specimen associated with a historic person, place,
event or period; a representative of a crop grown by ancestors and their
successors that is at risk of disappearing from cultivation; a tree
associated with local folklore, myths, legends or traditions; a specimen
identified by members of a community as deserving heritage recognition.
(Dr. Paul Aird, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Forestry, Univ. of
Toronto) |
|
The great white oak at Bronte Provincial Park |
|
Overview
In 2007 and 2008, Oakville held heritage tree hunts. The first contest was
developed to coincide with a celebration of Oakville's 150th anniversary and its
designation by the Canadian Forestry Association as Forest Capital of Canada. It
focused primarily on native tree species typical of pre-European settlement.
This hunt was such a success that a second hunt was organized to draw attention
to a different set of trees, reflecting the impact of human activity on urban
forest development. While tree hunts of this format can not be perennial
functions, they are terrific vehicles to educate the public about the importance
of trees and to celebrate a community's natural heritage. To help other
communities organize their own hunts, we would like to share this summary of our
process.
Oakvillegreen Conservation Association, (OCA), a local environmental
organization, took the lead planning role. The Town of Oakville became an early
partner in in the planning process. With input from John McNeil, Manager of Forestry & Cemetery
Services, and a communication advisor from the Town, an OCA Heritage Tree committee set goals,
established a budget and developed a timeline. Sponsors and supporters included
the Canadian Forestry Association, the Trillium Foundation, Henry's Photography,
the Ontario Urban Forest Council, the Ontario Heritage Tree Alliance, and the
Oakville Horticultural Society. We were grateful for advice and information from
many members of the OUFC and OHTA like Jack Radecki, Bohdan Kowalyk, Bill
Morsink Toni Ellis and Fran Moscall.
Goals
The goals of Oakville's tree hunt were multifold:
- to draw the public's attention to the rich natural heritage of
Oakville's urban forest (1.9 million trees and shrubs over 2.5cm DBH
according to
2005 Oakville Urban Forest Report);
- to encourage the protection of heritage trees, particularly large
stature trees and endangered species (only 8000 trees with trunks over 76cm DBH,
in 2005);
- to promote the planting and proper care and protection of trees;
- to improve the general understanding of the benefits of trees, in
particular their role in pollution abatement and energy conservation;
- to involve the community in creating an inventory of significant and
unique trees located in Oakville;
- to identify trees for seed collection and gene conservation;
- to encourage the aesthetic appreciation of trees;
- to create a fun social event for community building.
As volunteers did the field work, the major costs for
the hunts were advertising, prize acquisition, honorariums, and
catering the awards ceremony at the conclusion of the events. The 2007 hunt was
completed for under $3000 and for a little over $4000 in its the second year. The
2007 hunt was initiated in the summer; the 2008 hunt in early spring. Both
contests ended in September, culminating with a formal Mayoral Heritage Tree
Award Ceremony in October.
80 trees were nominated in the first year and over 90 in the second. The
photography contest had few contributors in 2007, however direct marketing to the various photography
clubs and improved advertising markedly
improved participation in 2008 and the number of photo entries more than doubled to over 125
entries. While both hunts can be considered successful, that success required
volunteers to "pull" entries by visiting homes, schools and businesses
and by talking to people about trees at various public events. It was felt that there
would be scant participation from newsletter mailings, web postings, posters and newspaper adds alone.
Contest Categories
From 2007 to 2008, the nomination categories changed significantly. During
2007, specific native tree species were sought typical of pre-European settlement
forests. During 2008, the categories were generally less
restrictive and trees introduced by early pioneers were emphasized. Thus the
entries in the two years reflected quite distinct subsets of Oakville's urban
forest. (Image left: The Pioneer. Charles William Jefferys. ca. 1921).
The tree categories selected for 2007 were: eastern white pine, white oak,
sugar maple, American elm, native nut bearing trees, the native tree with largest
circumference, the native tree with the widest canopy, the best rare
indigenous tree, best kid's tree, and the best story. Photography categories mirrored
nomination categories. As we were working with volunteers with limited tree
identification expertise, we chose to focus on a limited number of species. This
made assessment of winners easier (e.g. it is easier to compare one white oak to
another, rather than a white oak to a white ash). Although, it was thought that
these common trees would be easy for the public to identify, it turned out that
most were unable to distinguish one genera from another, let alone species. Thus
during the first summer, we sent out volunteers to flag significant specimens.
Photographs of the winning trees are in a table below.
Ontario's official tree, our eastern white pine, was chosen as the first
category. Although, few significant pre-settlement specimens exist in Oakville,
as most large stature pines were harvested by pioneers for home building and
ship masts. However the white pine is still well represented in Oakville's urban forest and many
fine specimens were nominated. Though the winning entry at 304cm in
circumference was far smaller than Johnnie Martin's Pine, a 60 metre tall white
pine, 650 cm in circumference, noted in the centre of old Oakville at the time
of settlement (Gore Gazette, Ancaster, Oct. 6, 1827), it is typical of the older pines in the
community. It is not however the largest white pine in Oakville, it was simply
the largest, healthiest specimen nominated. Trees were judged using the general
recommendations for heritage tree assessment outlined in the Ontario Heritage
Tree Alliance (OHTA) publication
Securing the Future
of Heritage Trees: A Protection Toolkit for Communities and subsequent
assessment guidelines prepared by Bill Morsink. ( (Image from Halinet:
Pioneer
Saw Mill, OMAFRA Sallows Collection 1920s or 30s).
White oak was chosen as a category because it
is such an important species in Oakville's history as the Town's name connotes.
Town founder, William Chisholm, purchased the land at the mouth of Sixteen Mile
Creek in 1827 and promptly built a mill to process timber, (Image:
Pioneer
Saw Mill, OMAFRA Sallows Collection 1920s or 30s;
Ye old mill,
Oakville Postcard, ca 1908). The production of oak
staves for whiskey barrels was one of the Town's first industries. Of course,
this resulted in the loss of most of the great oaks. However, there remain a
handful over 400cm in circumference. Though none of Oakville's trees come close
to Maryland's famous Wye Oak,
there is a great oak at Bronte Provincial Park with a bole circumference over
640cm. It has one the the largest trunks of any tree in the area and surely
exceeds 300 years in age.
The sugar maple was placed on the category list, not only because it is
Canada's national symbol, but also because it is the most dominate species, by
leaf area density, in the community. The largest and healthiest specimen
nominated was a beautiful tree over 5 meters around tucked in quiet back
yard. There are many superb old maples growing in old Oakville and in
various protected woodlands.
American Elms were once very common in Oakville and were widely planted. Perhaps
this contributed to the rapid decimation of the population by dutch elm disease.
While elms are not uncommon, healthy large stature elms are rare. The contest
allowed us to inventory elm trees above 7 ft. (84 inch) or 213 cm in
circumference and submit their locations to the Guelph
Elm Recovery Project for potential gene
conservation. The largest elm in Oakville, of which we are aware, is a 360 cm
circumference specimen in a back yard at 239 Southview
Rd.
Nut trees were included as a category at the request of the forestry
department. It was hoped the hunt would help the Town identify potential sources
for seed collection for a proposed native tree planting project. (OCA began seed
collection in the fall of 2008 as part of its
Full Circle Tree Initiatives). Many diverse
species were entered and deciding a winner required looking at local rarity as
well as all the standard assessment features of size, health, form, etc. The
selection of a lovely shagbark hickory located on Chancery Lane reflected a
ranking of these factors. (Image:
Nuts from a healthy butternut in Oakville. Unfortunately recently felled for a
home expansion).
The rarest tree category has very few entries and perhaps should have been
dropped. In the end, an uncommon, though not rare, swamp white oak was selected
over a rare and beautiful but young Eastern Wahoo (right) and questionable
butternut (it had not produced nuts in 2007 and was thought to possible be a
butternut/heartnut hybrid).
Traditional categories for the largest and widest trees helped to draw
attention to the importance of large stature trees with respect to air
pollution, carbon sequestration and energy savings. An odd red oak, which is
probably two fused oaks, won the largest circumference category - measuring an
impressive 650 centimeters at chest height. There were many close contenders in the canopy width
category - all around the 30 meter mark. Canopy density and general tree
characteristics were weighed to select the winner. A fantastic white
oak (5 m around 32 m spread) near a historic home in old Oakville took the prize.
The
best kid's tree and best story were open ended categories that allowed the public
to be creative. Many of the trees nominated in these categories would not be
considered heritage trees, however they were delightful entries, as the girl
reading a book in the apple tree illustrates. We gave greater weight to entries
that focused on significant trees. In the end, we selected a formidable silver
maple complete with tree house in the kid's category, and a heart warming story
regarding a remarkable old bur x swamp oak tree, nominated by a grade 6th class
at Ecole Picknell. (Pictures below).
We received one special entry that did not fit our categories but deserved
special recognition. It was the nomination of a grove of trees within
Bronte Pioneer Cemetery, a designated historical site with graves dating to 1823.
This collection of predominately oak species (including a variety of white and
red oaks), as well as white pines and black cherries, is exceptional for species
distribution, size, form and beauty. We created a special Mayor's Pinnacle Award to recognize this
collection and draw it to public attention. In 2008, we included a collection of trees
as one of our categories.
Below are the 2007 winning entries.
| Table 1:
Oakville Heritage Tree Hunt 2007 - Winning Trees and Photographs
(click thumbnails to see enlargements) |
Best eastern white pine
54 Park Avenue e
306cm circumference
Photo credit: C. Kavassalis |
Best white oak
Bronte Provincial Park 643cm circumference
Photo credit: Shiela Weibe |
Best sugar maple
258 Westwood
520cm circumference
Photo credit: Rebecca Dumbrill |
Best American Elm
239 Southview
360cm circumference
Photo credit: Rebecca Dumbrill |
Best native nut tree
Hickory on 80 Chancery Lane
Photo credit: C. Kavassalis |
Locally uncommon tree
Swamp White Oak
Lindsey Park on Dorval
Photo credit: C. Kavassalis |
Best eastern white pine Photo
117 Watson Ave
Photo credit: Hilary Selby |
Best white oak Photo
1151 Bronte Rd
Lori
Lavecchia |
Best sugar maple
2431 Dundas St. W
Photo credit: Ken Kawall |
Best American Elm
455 Trafalgar Rd.
Photo credit: Calden Wolka |
Best native nut tree
Hickory in Wildwoods Park
Photo credit: Donna
Sheppard |
Locally uncommon tree
Swamp White Oak
Photo credit: T. Kavassalis |
Tree with the widest canopy
White oak
357 Trafalgar
32m spread
499cm circumference
Photo credit: C. Kavassalis |
Native tree with largest circ.
Red oak
22 Brookfield Rd.
650cm circumference
Photo credit: C. Kavassalis |
Best kid's tree
Silver maple
335 Sandlewood Rd.
Photo credit: C. Kavassalis |
Best kid's tree
Weeping willow
Coronation Park
Photo credit: Noah Krantz |
Pinnacle Award
Oak Grove
Bronte Pioneer Cemetery
Photo credit: Rebecca Dumbrill |
Best story
"Sous le grand chene"
Ecole Picknell Grade 6
1257 Sedgewick Cres
Photo credit: Rebecca Dumbrill |
Lessons learned from 2007 hunt
There were several lessons learned from the 2007 hunt that shaped the 2008
contest:
- A July to mid September contest duration was too short;
- Categories were too specific for the average person;
- Best results were obtained when volunteers recommended trees for
submission;
- Outreach to schools and those interested in photography needed to be
improved;
- Rare tree category was too limiting.
Contest Categories 2008
With these improvements in mind, OCA
decided to launch the 2008 hunt in early spring on Arbour Day. The 2008 categories
were less species specific. Categories included: favourite tree (two winners), neighbourhood landmark, tree with
largest circumference, best collection of trees, best orchard fruit bearing
tree, best native tree for air quality, best story, and best kid's tree (two winners). (A category
for tallest tree was removed when insufficient entries were received to make it
valid.) Photography categories did not mirror these, but were broader still and
included: best full tree photo, best bark and branches, best leaves photo, best
photo of fruit, best photo of wildlife in trees, best kid friendly tree and best
photo-journal related to trees. The underlying theme in these selections was to
demonstrate how Oakville's primeval forest had been transformed by early
settlers. (Image: Colborne Street [Lakeshore Rd] ca 1910).
Scouts went across Town and recommended certain trees for nomination to area
residents. This helped to spread word of the contest, and many additional
noteworthy trees were brought to our attention by members of the public. Due to
some bureaucratic problems getting brochures printed, materials did not get into
schools as hoped before summer break and the contest was extended to the end of
September to give schools a better opportunity to participate. This proved
successful and indeed several schools were able to make entries during that
month, one of which proved to be a winning submission. Photographs were not
forthcoming until volunteers made directed efforts to contact photography clubs and
individuals connected to the arts community. In the end, the response was
excellent, though pictures were not submitted in the requested formats and OCA
had to print many digital submissions to ensure uniformity. (See winning
nominations and photographs in table below.)
Favorite tree and neighbourhood landmarks were well represented, though many
nominated trees were relatively young. We received nominations of all variety of
trees from native elms and
pines to European Copper Beech, Eurasian willows and hybrids - like
the London plane. Of the exotics nominated, one was a fabulous
magnolia planted in the 1850s and documented in some of the early histories of
Oakville, (e.g. Francis Ahern's Oakville: A small town 1900-30). This tree is now Oakville's first officially designated heritage tree
- the tree was cited along with the home when the property was recently
recognized as a heritage property. The second tree selected as a
winner entry in the favourite tree category was a large swamp white oak growing
in a residential neighborhood where few large stature trees grow. This tree could
also have been considered a landmark tree, however, the
landmark tree chosen was a red oak noted in early Oakville histories as a tree used by
surveyors to lay out streets of old Oakville. This healthy 35m tall oak stands
on the Erchless Estate on Navy Street in the oldest part of the community and
exemplifies the category.
The
collection category was very difficult to judge. Everything from stands of
birch to roadways lined with silver maples were nominated. Many of the
collections nominated were groups of trees planted by early settlers as
windbreaks. Large swatches of land had been cleared in the early 1800s for
farming, (e.g. Oakville was renowned for its strawberries as the 1876 William
Cruikshank sketch of Oakville Strawberry Pickers illustrates - right).
In southeast Oakville, long hedgerows of Norway Spruce were used to line
roadways and farm borders. Several long stands of Norway spruce were nominated
and one
of these, along Linbrook
Rd., was chosen as winner of this complex category. It is a fine example of how introduced species
have shaped Oakville's modern urban forest.
Wherever you go in Oakville, you will find
evidence of the orchard trees that were planted far and wide by first
settlers. From the south to the north, in yards and woods, you will come
across apples, pears (photo to the left) and cherries. So creating a
category that celebrated this heritage seemed quite natural. However, judging
the age and merit of the nominated trees was not easy. In the end, a heritage
apple farm dating to the mid 1800s was selected. The apple trees of Arden Farm,
on the North Service Road and Third Line, well reflect Oakville's fruit tree
heritage and the importance of the fruit industry in both past and present.
Rather than discuss air quality as an associated benefit of large stature trees,
as in the 2007 hunt, we chose to have a category that explicitly focused on the
role trees have in cleaning our air in the 2008 hunt. We relied on a helpful
table in the 2005
Oakville Urban
Forest Report entitled "Appendix 8: Best Species For Air Quality
Improvement." Using that guide, we sought the following highly ranked trees:
American basswood, Northern hackberry, Eastern white pine, Red maple, Red
mulberry, Sugar maple, Silver maple, Bitternut hickory, Shagbark hickory, and
Black walnut. The highest ranking, an American basswood, was selected as the
category winner, but we also chose to acknowledge an exemplary runner-up - a
silver maple with a bole circumference over 600cm.
In addition to adding a runner-up, we also added an additional winner to the kid
friendly tree category. We did this because we really wanted to encourage the
participation of young people. A sprawling peach-leaved willow had been
nominated by several people and the nominator with an entry that included a well
written story was given the award for the nomination. An entire school got
together to nominate two heritage trees on and adjacent to their school property
- a century old magnolia and older walnut. Having many children participate in
the Award Ceremony made the affair quite joyous.
The quality of the photographic submissions was impressive and it was very
difficult to chose between many excellent works of art. It was unfortunate that
we did not include a category for flowering trees for were received some
excellent submissions that really did not fit into the seven categories ... next
time. The photographs are wonderful for display boards and tree presentations
and we are grateful for them.
Below are some of the 2008 winning entries:
| Table 2:
Oakville Heritage Tree Hunt 2008 - Winning Trees and Photographs
(click thumbnails to see enlargements) |
Favourite Tree
Magnolia
42 Lakeshore Rd. West
Photo: Jackie Osmond Patrick |
Favourite Tree
Swamp white oak
1000 Glenbrook Ave.. West
Photo credit: Wayne Elliott |
Landmark Tree
Red Oak
Erchless Estate: 8 Navy St.
Photo: Jackie Osmond Patrick |
Best Collection of Trees
Norway Spruce
Linbrook Rd.
Photo credit: Scott Snowball |
Orchard Fruit Tree
2031 North Service Rd. West
Photo: Jackie Osmond Patrick |
Best Tree for Air Quality
American basswood
418 River Side Dr.
Pollution Index: 97.7
Photo credit: Scott Snowball |
Largest trunk
Weeping willow
Coronation Park
650 cm circumference
Photo: Jackie Osmond Patrick |
Kid Friendly Tree
Willow
Riverglen and Sixth Lin
Photo: Jackie Osmond Patrick |
Kid Friendly Tree
Magnolia at Clanmore School
2463 Lakeshore Rd. East
Photo: Jackie Osmond Patrick |
Full Tree Shot
White Oak
1151 Bronte Road
Photo: Richard Braeken |
Bark and Branches Photo
White Oak
1151 Bronte Road
Photo: Jackie Osmond Patrick |
Best Fruit Photo
Mountain ash
Erchless Estate
Photo: Moira Matsubuchi-Shaw |
Best leaf photo
Sugar maple
Bronte Creek Provincial Park
Photo: Gary Lynch |
Wildlife in Tree Photo
Screech owl in Hawthorne
Photo: Scott Snowball |
Kid's Tree Photo
Red oak
Photo credit: Jian Su |
Best photo-journal
Sycamore in16 Mile Creek
Photo: Donna Sheppard |
Pinnacle Award
Photojournal and poem of Brook Valley Park
Photo: Cheryl Clarke |
|
Judging the Contests
While an OCA committee could quite easily compile of short list of potential
winners from the submitted trees, forestry experts were asked to look critically
at the top contenders to determine the "best" in each category. The following
criteria developed by OHTA were used to evaluate specimens:
- Species Rarity factor – species rarity both globally and locally
- Prominence factor – prominence due to tree size and age
- Appearance factor – aesthetics &/or artistic peculiarity and form
- Social factor – continuing historical and cultural importance to local
or broader community
- Integrity factor – condition problems and expected longevity
We were fortunate to have Richard Jean from the Town of Oakville
Forestry Department and ecologist Paul O'hara from Blue Oak Native Landscapes
judge the 2007 hunt. To judge the 2008 trees, Richard was joined by Tony Molnar
and Erik Hasenhindl from the Town of Oakville. While no formal assessments were
completed, we hope that more formal assessments of many of the nominated trees
will be completed in the future.
Our photography judges for 2007 were Kieley Hickey and Scott Snowball from
the Oakville Photography Club. Scott was joined by Wayne Elliot and Ray Seto for
the 2008 photography contest.
The Award Ceremonies
The Award Ceremony not only provided a opportunity to thank all participants
and present prizes, but also provided another opportunity to educate and inform.
Members of the media, Town council, members of Town staff and other interested
parties were all invited to share a social evening celebrating Oakville's trees.
In 2007, speakers included Liz Benneian, the president of Oakvillegreen
Association, Mayor Rob Burton, and Dave Lemkay, from the Canadian Forestry
Association. In 2008, Liz once again presided over the ceremony along with Rob
Burton and additional presenters included Angela Dicintio from the
Trillium Foundation and Catherine Kavassalis the
Chair of the Heritage Tree Committee. Posters (click on thumb nail left to see
enlarged version of one poster), hand-outs and speakers all
provided attendees information about trees, highlighting some of the most
significant heritage trees in the community.
Prizes were kept simple. In 2007, we asked local wood turners to create pens
from indigenous tree species. In 2008, it was tea candles. Framed photographs of
the winning tree was presented to selected nominators and Henry's gift
certificates were presented to winning photographers. We had a few books and
maple candy for children and special award recipients. In 2007, the
photographs were taken by myself and a volunteer student, Rebecca Dumbrill, with
an interest in photography. In 2008, we asked photographers who had submitted
exceptional photographs to the competition to help take photographs of the
winning trees. Jackie Osmond Patrick, Scott Snowball and Wayne Elliot
contributed their time to take some extraordinary photographs for our winners.
Between the presentation of awards, the story of Oakville's Urban Forest was shared. The 2008 ceremony had greater
visual interest than the previous year. The evening began with a slide show of
all submitted photographs with music compiled by Councilor Roger Lapworth. A
PowerPoint presentation was used to support the talk track and provide visual
interest for the attendees, many of whom were children. It was well received.
| Table 3: - Heritage Tree Award Ceremony October 22,
2008 (click thumbnails to see enlargements) A few images... |
Framed Photographs |
Liz Benneian
President Oakvillegreen Conservation Association |
Catherine Kavassalis
Chair Oakville Heritage Committee
Tells the story of Oakville's trees |
MPP Kevin Flynn
and Mayor Rob Burton present Pinnacle Award to Cheryl Clark |
MPP Kevin Flynn with a winning photographer, Jian Su and family |
Angela Dicintio
and Gilmar Militar (upper left) from the Trillium
Foundation present award to Grade 6 class from Clanmore Montessori
School |
The 2008 Award Recipients |
The Food |
Displays |
The Stories |
While OCA does not anticipate repeating the same type of hunt in 2009, we
believe that hunts can be quite effective to raise awareness about heritage trees
and can be an important tool for securing the future of heritage trees.
We hope that you find this information valuable if you are planning a hunt in
your community. If you have questions about our hunt and would like further
details, please contact Catherine via
Oakvillegreen Conservation Association website.
Other Sources of Information
