When I first moved to Victoria many years ago, among the first things I noticed were these unusual looking trees in my neighbourhood. Well, unusual to me, maybe because of the sheer number of them, but also because of their looks.
They had gnarly, crooked branches, a unique greyish bark, and they were everywhere. I soon learned that these trees were called Garry Oaks. They are apparently found as far south as California, but Garry Oaks were named after Nicholas Garry, the Deputy Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company. I didn’t know that until just now.
I also didn’t know that Oak Bay was named after the Garry Oak tree. Duh. But then when I learned that my neighbourhood is called Oaklands, it made perfect sense to me. Garry Oaks are all around us.
We live on a corner lot, and there used to be three or four of them on the street corner right beside our house. On a blustery winter day about twenty years ago, one of them crashed down, first hitting our chimney, knocking a part of it loose, and then coming to rest on the back of my husband’s car.
We called the city and when they investigated, they found that particular grove of trees had some kind of rotting root fungus, meaning the rest of them were a hazard to leave there. So, sadly, they all had to be taken down.
But, as they say, the apple (or in this case, the acorn) doesn’t fall far from the tree. Another Garry Oak is now growing in the same spot and is thriving. I’ve made it a part of my little garden there. And we still have a grove of mature Garry Oaks by our back yard.
Right now, trees of every sort are top of mind as communities all over the northern hemisphere deal with high heat, droughts and as a result, forest fires. It’s terrifying.
When fires are caused by lightening or other natural events, that’s bad enough. But why is it that some idiot humans HAVE to have their campfires flaring or absently flick their cigarettes into the bushes? As joke goes, what’s worse, their ignorance or their apathy? (Answer: They don’t know and they don’t care).
The Garry Oak is supposed to be drought tolerant, but lately they’ve been getting a little help from the city, as you can see in the photo above. Portable water tanks have been popping up around my neighbourhood and in others, giving the trees a little extra hydration. Not just Garry Oaks, other trees too.
On a recent road trip through the interior and the Rockies, I found myself marveling at the numbers and amazing varieties of trees we have all around us…deciduous and coniferous. Do you know the difference? That’s one thing I do know!
And when I walk down particular streets in my neighbourhood, I marvel at the size of the trees lining them. Some of the trunks are massive. It makes me wonder what was going on in the world when they were just seedlings.
Most of the oldest trees in the world are in the US, China and Chile, but a Nootka Cypress tree here on the island is estimated to be about 1,636 years old. That means it came to life at around year 390. The Roman Empire was still going strong then…imagine that!
Trees do some amazing things for us that we often take for granted. Globally, they absorb billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. They even produce small amounts of oxygen. You know, that stuff we breathe?
Besides all of that, what’s more wonderful than lying beneath a gorgeous tree canopy on a hot summer day? Or walking through a local forest like Goldstream Park or Sooke Potholes Provincial Park, just marveling at their magnificence? And that beautiful forest scent…wow.
These days, a lot of airports are creating atriums, outdoor places with trees and plants to give passengers a place to hang out for some stress relief. Ahhh…just relax. Because that’s what trees help us to do.
So before we lose too many more of them, I’d like to raise a glass to our trees, to these natural, beautiful skyscrapers that give our lives so much more than shade. Skál…cheers!
IJ
