A Tree Walk at Terra Nova

City of Richmond arborist Michael Griffith agreed to take me for a tour of some of his favourite trees on the Terra Nova site where our artist residency is based. It was a cloudy and wet morning and as I walked along the West Dyke Trail on the Fraser River. An eagle flew out over the ocean towards the airport and I paused to watch its flight. The rain had stopped, which was a relief because I wanted to take notes and I didn’t bring any waterproof paper! I walked past the Terra Nova Nature school and ran into a sweet group of chirping preschoolers on a walk in the rain. I tell the teacher what I’m doing today. “Oh we love Michael!” says Emily, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.  

There are a few species of pine trees on the site, so I'll need to study them more closely to get to know them better. I love the silhouette of the needles against the soft grey sky. (Can't wait to bake some good stuff in that cob oven in the background. Garlic-studded focaccia, par example?!)

Each species of pine has a unique shape and size of needle and a specific number of needles in each whorl.

One of Michael's favourite trees here is this big muscular beech tree (Fagus) with a large, expansive canopy. It's breathtaking.

This is a Lebanon cedar (Cedris lebani), which is a true cedar. The female cones are smooth and green and for some reason  people often mistake them for wasp nests! I Googled an image of the cones, and they do have the texture of the layers of a paper wasp nest. They're quite lovely!

This is a very popular spot, the path through the weeping birches (Betula pendula). Birches like this wet environment, but they getting hit by the bronze birch borer beetle which is slowly compromising the health of some of the trees. Sadly, there is no known biological control for this beetle.

You can tell the health o the birch tree based on how numerous the little branches are at the very tops of the tree.

You may recognize the tall, surreal narrow silhouette of the Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra ‘Italica’). These were planted as windbreaks on farms.

The beavers that live on the site have has a good chew on this poplar, so it is being maintained as a wildlife tree.

 As the tree is dying it continues to support a biodiversity of critters, rather than being lost to the use of just one species. There are plenty of smaller trees on site that the beavers can use. In the meantime, woodpeckers, sapsuckers, beetles, bees, and other critters can use this snag for food and habitat.