nature, Photography

Heritage Oak

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This is one of the heritage oaks that have been planted in Penticton’s Memorial Park. There are several others, all of which are about 10 – 30 years older than this one, making them approximately 110-130.

The plaque says “This oak tree was planted on July 1, 1937 to commemorate the coronation of George VI. It was presented to Penticton by the Royal Gardeners London.”

All of the trees in this park are very carefully tended and cared for by the city; they all display vaccination tags, especially the lone elm tree. As you may know, Dutch elm disease has been ravaging these incredibly lovely shade trees.

Elm tree (photo courtesy of P. Altini)

Happy Sunday.

24 thoughts on “Heritage Oak”

      1. The chinooks can be very hard on trees so there are limits in the types of trees that will successfully grow without too much intervention, but agreed, the city could be planting more of the types that work well such as aspens and birches.

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        1. Yes, the chinooks, the elevation, the dryness, the regular wind. It’s a tough place for trees. There’s a city bylaw that says city parks have to remain natural, no planting if there weren’t already trees, so we have a lot of bald prairie parks.

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          1. Yes, Calgary is a bit of a demanding environment. I didn’t realise that the city has “natural” parks rule. I guess they don’t want to have to water or do any tree/shrub maintenance. I can see the arguments for and against that.

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    1. Dutch elm disease is very difficult to eliminate, apparently. It’s a fungus that can spread through the elm beetle and also through the root network if there are infected trees nearby. There’s a fungicide that the trees are injected with every few years which acts like a vaccine, though. Yes, elm trees are so gorgeous. Their shape and the shade they provide is beautiful.

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  3. Such gorgeous trees Lynette. We need to protect them. I think Edmonton has one of the largest plantings of elm trees in Canada and they take Dutch elm disease very seriously, so they do not lose them all. Too many big trees get cut down indiscriminately. Happy Sunday. Allan

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    1. Thanks, Allan. I’ve seen the large numbers of them in Edmonton. When I first moved to Medicine Hat I was blown away by Elm Street, a pre-WWI street with very small houses but lined on both sides with gorgeous mature elms. That view has always stayed in my head. Unfortunately, there are now only a few left as I saw when I visited friends in October. Very sad. I recently learned that BC now has an invasive scrub elm that’s causing the disease to spread more easily. Whole teams of people are going out in spring to pull the saplings or remove the older ones. Ugh. I agree that too many mature trees are being cut down, especially by developers. Our planet needs them.

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