To witness the myriad manifestations of human behaviour, try this: Stand on the sidewalk and look up, as I did repeatedly a few days ago with Andrew Pickett.
This being the big city, most folks will walk right by. Some will pause for a millisecond to look up too, but see nothing and move along. A few, however, will say something like: "That's a nice old tree, isn't it? You doing a survey for the city or something?"
Not quite, but close: I'd asked Mr. Pickett, a 15-year veteran with the City of Toronto's urban forestry department, to show me a selection of trees that have become neighbourhood landmarks, either because of age, circumstance, or both.
Our first stop proves that Mr. Pickett is a romantic at heart. As he guides the little city-owned Smart car into Leslieville, I know he's producing the ace from the deck: the "Maple Leaf Forever tree" at 62
A white oak that seems to embrace the house next to it. It is thought to be 200 years old.
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Laing St. Sitting safely behind a 1958 heritage plaque on the front lawn of Maple Cottage, this has got to be the most famous tree in town.
Legend has it that a leaf from this silver maple drifted onto schoolteacher Alexander Muir's sleeve and inspired him to write the song for a patriotic poetry contest in 1867. While Mr. Pickett says it's unusual for this species to live past a century, a photo from the 1930s shows an already mature tree with the same branching pattern on this exact spot.
To ensure its legacy lives on, offspring have been planted around the country, including one in Gananoque and another in Shawinigan by former prime minister Jean Chrétien. "Hopefully, they'll all live to be the same ripe old age," Mr. Pickett says.
A black locust beside the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse at 106 Trinity St. is interesting for the gnarly old burls that cover the lower trunk of this monster. Mr. Pickett explains that the bulbous abnormalities are formed "when injury or disease has impacted the tree." The swirling wood that grows inside this limited space, however, makes for great raw material for wood carvers. Again, his department has a 1905 photograph showing this tree already at "a good size."
"This is one of the biggest trees in the City of Toronto that I know of," Mr. Pickett says as we stand with our necks bent waaaay back to take in a huge white oak lording over a private backyard near Dupont Street and Spadina Road. Looking more like 20 average-sized trees all smashed together, the behemoth has heavy branches that stick out of the main stem at almost right angles, meaning the load at those unions must be incredible. This tree is truly an engineering marvel, as well as a survivor.
"A hundred years ago, there would have been hundreds of white oak trees all in and around here," offers Mr. Pickett. "Somehow, this one managed to hang on while others were cut when they were developing the area." We're all the better for it, too.
A sad reminder that the cycle of life also applies to trees greets us at our next stop — a "Wealthy apple" tree planted in the late 1800s by the Austin family in the orchard beside their home (now the Spadina Museum). It has been cut down because of safety concerns just an hour before we arrive, but, luckily, it's featured in the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation 2006 calendar, "Toronto Tree Portraits."
Balance is quickly restored when Mr. Pickett shows the efforts made to preserve an old white oak — he estimates it to be about 200 — that seems to embrace the old house beside it at 28 Oriole Rd.
In this case, a developer purchased the parcel of land next door and submitted plans to the city to build three homes where there was one. The city approved two, but would permit a third only if it were raised off the ground to allow the tree's roots to continue to have access to oxygen and water. In addition, the house was set back so that minimal pruning was required.
Just up the street at 76 Lonsdale Rd., we find another case where a new house was set back to accommodate a tree, in this case a wonderful European copper beech, known and loved by residents of the area.
When Mr. Pickett shows this "fairly rare" species to school groups, he often compares the bark to "the legs of an elephant."
The city lost the majority of its elms when Dutch elm disease hit in 1930, which makes our last stop all the more poignant. A curb-hugging American elm in front of 24 Humewood Dr. is "the biggest elm I've ever seen," says Mr. Pickett, who marvels at its tenacity.
Today, he adds, his department is dealing with a problem similar to Dutch elm disease — the Asian long-horned beetle infestation. After removing 11,000 trees the first year alone (mostly in industrial areas) and by being ever vigilant, things do seem to be under control, however.
Good thing: With Toronto's lush ravines and many canopied neighbourhoods, there's always plenty of work — and sidewalk admiring — to do.
Dave LeBlanc hosts The Architourist on CFRB Sunday mornings. Inquiries can be sent to dave.leblanc@globeandmail.com.
