THEN & NOW
/A massive oak tree shades Alexandra Park.
(James Oakes Photos)
CELEBRATING WEST END TREES
by Daryl Nelson
(click images to enlarge)
Joyce Kilmer (1886 – 1918) famously wrote that “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.” Well, I am neither a poet nor an arborist but I have had a love affair with West End trees over the past 50 years. Here are some of my favourites.
On the north-east corner of Bidwell and Beach Avenue, in Alexandra Park, stands a massive oak tree which I surmise might have been planted around the turn of the last century. It is the West End’s methuselah — a silent oracle who has seen everything but says nothing. Definitely the favourite tree of many West Enders.
Vancouver’s old mansions would often have a “monkey-puzzle” tree in the front yard — so named I think because their branches look like a monkey’s tail. These trees now have long since gone out of fashion but the West End still has one — which is located in front of 1024 Cardero Street. Take a look at this tribute to a long-forgotten tree which was once so popular in Vancouver.
Three chestnuts line the street in front of the queen charlotte.
My own building, The Queen Charlotte Apartments, has three giant chestnut trees on the Pendrell Street side. Each tree produces a mountain of chestnuts in the fall which come down with such frequency that you can hear them hitting cars on the street.
On Nicola Street the building faces five catalpa trees which produce dinner-plate size leaves that blanket everything in sight in the autumn. It falls to our Gardening Committee to take on the Sisyphean task of raking up the chestnuts and leaves — a job that takes a couple of months to complete. But for all of that — on a hot summer’s day to walk down Nicola Street and see the tunnel of green and feel the coolness of the canopy of leaves is something wonderful to behold.
There are three London Plane Trees located in the mini-park at Cardero and Comox Streets. Apparently, these trees were originally planted on Terminal Avenue but when the Skytrain line was constructed in the mid-’80s, they were moved to the mini-park. Terminal Avenue’s loss was Cardero Street’s gain! There are also two London Plane Trees located in front of 1763 Comox Street.
A rare (in vancouver) california redwood in front of the park board office.
California Redwoods are not native to B.C. but we have a few excellent examples in the West End. The best specimen is in front of the park board office at 2099 Beach Avenue. There are also five that appear to be redwoods in front of 1274 Barclay Street.
The perimeter of Lord Roberts School, as well as the berm at Pendrell and Cardero Streets, were planted with trees during the years 1985/86. Since that time, the Vancouver School Board has planted quite a number of additional trees around the playground. In the summer, what was once a fairly barren place has become an urban park.
The Japanese Cherry trees on Davie Street have an interesting backstory. My friend, Jim Harvey, was a park board commissioner in the 1980s. He was a descendent of Robert Dunsmuir, the Nanaimo coal baron.
He was also founder of Friends of Stanley Park, a group who advocated that only changes that enhanced the use of the park as a park should be allowed. This put the group at odds with the Vancouver Public Aquarium expansion plans and also a proposal to reconstruct the English Bay Pier. Jim also felt that Davie Street needed more greenery and advocated for the planting of trees on Davie Street. Thanks Jim!
Whoever planted the maple trees on both sides of the 1400 block Barclay Street was certainly prescient as these magnificent specimens provide a perfect backdrop for the Barclay Heritage Square collection of homes from the early days of the West End.
Last but not least, is the tree I planted myself in the early ‘80s in front of 1631 Comox Street, my home at the time. The small fir sapling I purchased at a nursery in North Vancouver now towers 40 feet in the air and seems to be bigger every time I look at it.
I hope you love West End trees as much as I do and will spend a few minutes enjoying their magnificence throughout the year.
Editor’s Note: With a hot summer upon us, while contemplating our beautiful tree canopies it’s always worth revisiting TWEJ’s article last month about keeping the trees watered, which you’ll find here.
