Some Trees of Greater Vancouver

by Terri Clark

The Lower Mainland is fortunate in that there are droves of citizens who value trees beyond the present. They plant for the future and we are thankful for that. There are a few tree lovers we should pay special attention to. Their collective efforts, described below, have helped develop the present and future face of the Greater Vancouver area and to them we owe gratitude. Special “must see” trees are listed in the next article.

Stanley Park Forest Though more than 100 years old as a protected area this 406-hectare preserve offers hope for formerly logged sites. What the visitor sees today is second- and third-growth forest featuring the common West Coast mix of red cedar, Douglas fir and hemlock. Nicely scattered throughout this evergreen quilt are numerous species of deciduous trees like vine maple, big leaf maple and red alder. Few old-growth stands remain; those that do were spared because of their enormous size or remote locations. These monument trees can be discovered just north of the Mounted Squad stables or down the path south of the Hollow Tree leading to Third Beach. Here you’ll find the National Geographic Tree; the magazine proclaimed it one of the world’s largest (almost five metres in diameter) and most ancient trees, as cedars go, at approximately 1,000 years old. Many pathways etch Stanley Park and almost any one of them will lead you to these towering wooden sentinels.

Ornamental Plantings Stanley Park Pitch-and-Putt Golf Course Ornamental trees show us a pretty face either in form, flower, leaf, seed or bark. An amazing plantation of such trees exists in and around the Stanley Park Pitch-and-Putt Golf Course. A wonderful old man, Dr. John Yak, whose avocations after his retirement from medicine were botany and ornithology, approached me in the early seventies with a slim, hand-typed book identifying what he described as a “priceless” collection of ornamental trees. Dr. Yak, then about 90, had catalogued each important specimen so that a comprehensive guide would be at the disposal of both the Park Board staff and the public. This first research by Dr. Yak proved an invaluable resource for subsequent publications and articles on this subject.

Specimens to watch for include Sargent’s magnolia looking like enormous pink hankies when in magnificent bloom in early April which produces the largest bloom in the magnolia family. Also here are two Wilson’s magnolias whose buds are egg-shaped and, when open in May, proffer a lemony scent followed by a purplish-scarlet seed head in autumn. Sprenger’s magnolia is here, its late winter, furry flower buds decorating the bare branches before exploding into pinky froth in late March. Also found around the pitch-and-putt pathway is a terrific collection of camellias with colorful blossoms ranging from white to palest pink at their peak from late March to early April. The azaleas and rhododendrons skirting the pitch-and-putt were part of an extensive collection obtained from Ted and Mary Grieg of Royston Nurseries on Vancouver Island. About 4,500 plants are necklaced around the golf course beneath the towering magnolias and evergreens. Of special interest are the rhododendron auriculatum hybrids which combine the desirable characteristics of late bloom time in July and August and scent, something not usually found in rhodos. An early evening stroll through this area during the first two weeks in May astounds the park visitor with Italian ice colors combining bloom and foliage. Summer walkers are equally bowled over to see colorful rhodos blooming “out of season.” literally hundreds of further ornamental trees are found here, many around the Park Board administration office at the Beach Avenue entrance to Stanley Park. The building’s granite front wall is clothed in a magnificent espaliered specimen of blue atlas cedar which, at more than 30 years of age, reminds us of the powers of pruning. Veils of weeping beech are nearby, next to a small grove of white pine. You’ll find a good guide book is necessary, such as Gerald Straley’s Trees of Vancouver or the Natural History Society’s The Natural History of Stanley Park with excellent articles by longtime Stanley Park gardener Alleyne Cook. With book in hand you are ready to begin your great tree adventures in Vancouver’s first and most-beloved park!

Trees as Gifts Ever wonder about those superb cherry trees at Stanley Park’s entrance! These five spreading specimens of Yoshino cherry trees were a gift to the park in the late 1940s from Japan. They bloom during the last week in March and should be on everyone’s guided tour. Another gift of trees came from the Japanese city of Yokohama in 1967; they have since put down their roots on Cambie Street between 41st and 49th Avenues. They are also Yoshino cherry trees and we can’t think of a nicer centennial birthday present for Canada. An allee of Katsura trees was donated by the Rotary Club in 1992 and planted in Seaforth Peace Park. The Vancouver Park Board has many tree donation programs serving both private and corporate needs. These woody gifts of today will grace tomorrow’s streets and green spaces.

Queen Elizabeth Park When first planned this former stone quarry and surrounding land provided a perfect backdrop and environment for an arboretum or plantation of varied species of trees. It is said the sloping hillsides in this jewel of a park contain a specimen of every tree native to Canada. A map and guide to this magnificent collection has yet to be produced but it is often referred to in Gerald Straley’s Trees of Vancouver. Trees to look for include the giant dogwood, a tree connoisseur’s delight and one of the hardest to propagate. The blue spruce, vine maple, western white pine, Lawson cypress, honey locust, the black locust or acacia, golden-twigged ash and amur cork tree are but a few of the treasures awaiting enthusiasts. Queen Elizabeth Park is open all year for those seeking nature’s beauty, and in every season you’ll discover another surprise.

VanDusen Botanical Display Garden The former Shaughnessy Golf Course has been transformed into a world-class botanical garden over the past 20 years. The majestic evergreens throughout the site pre-date the garden, and it is on this excellent structure that much of the display’s subsequent development was based. Originally designed by the late Bill Livingstone, chief landscaper for the Vancouver Park Board over a splendid 35-year career, the plantings of the last two decades have been conducted under the creative drive and vision of curator Roy Forster whose catholic taste is evident after even a brief stroll in this gorgeous refuge. Special trees include ginkgo bilbao, a grove of sequioadendron giganteum, sequioadendron giganteum pendula, acer palmatum aralia elata, catalpa bignonioides aurea, magnolia dawsoniana, pyrus salicifolia pendula and zelkova serrata. A new Autumn Colour Garden was opened in 1995 near the hedge maze in VanDusen’s southwest corner. Early spring is an excellent time to visit for tree blossoms; visit again in fall when the tints of the harvest season sparkle with crispness. There is an admission charge with reduced rates starting in October.

UBC Botanical Garden Originally comprising native trees and built in the second decade of the century, this collection was enhanced by exotic specimens following World War II. Campus development infringed on the arboretum but what’s left can be observed west of the West Mall, from the Fraser River parkade south to University Boulevard and behind the Ponderosa cafeteria. A detailed map and guide of this area is found in Straley’s book. The Asian Garden, part of the UBC Botanical Garden, offers another adventure in tracking down trees with great, though still young, specimens of maples, magnolias, mountain ash and rhododendrons. UBC’s Native Garden proffers nearly all the trees native to British Columbia.

Shaughnessy Crescent This very large circle of land lies within a roundabout in one of Vancouver’s oldest and most prestigious districts, with some homes dating from the 1800s. A walk here with a guide book in hand can be an odyssey of architecture as much as arboriculture. Straley’s Trees of Vancouver includes a detailed map listing the astonishing variety of trees in this park now tended by the Vancouver Park Board. Highlights include the Japanese snowbell tree, the flowering ash, red horse-chestnut, fringe-tree, English hawthorn, large-leaved linden, copper beech, sourwood, Eddie’s white wonder dogwood and the Tree of Heaven to name a few.

Riverview Arboretum The province’s oldest arboretum encompasses the grounds of Riverview Hospital, formerly Essondale Hospital. Developed under the direction of John Davidson, who later started the UBC Botanical Garden and was inspired by Britain’s great Kew Gardens, the grounds have remained nearly untouched. Time has rewarded the efforts of those who shaped and planted the land with a splendid collection of trees now in their mature glory. For more than 80 years Riverview Hospital has been home and refuge to patients suffering from mental illness. Many of them labored long and hard to build the grounds as they exist today, their collective efforts serving as both therapy and recreation. For years the patients tended the plants and performed the majority of horticultural duties required in a large park. Many remain here and those who have passed on are buried in the land they tended and loved so well. It is not often that trees are planted with the room needed to reach the full potential of their canopy. A society has been formed to protect this grand arboretum from proposed future development. A trip to the Riverview Lands, located in Coquitlam on more than 100 hectares, should be a requirement for any tree enthusiast. Before your visit pick up a copy of Riverview Lands, an excellent guide. Green Timbers Urban Forest, Surrey Located at 140th Street and 96th Avenue in Surrey these 260 hectares have become a memorial to what once was a larger natural forest of giant evergreens soaring to 60 metres in height. Green Timbers was, at the turn of the century, the only remaining stretch of virgin forest between San Diego and Vancouver. Tourists would come from all over to view these cathedral-like groves in a 2,031 hectare refuge. Despite proposals to have the forest declared a park, Green Timbers was clear-cut in 1929, with the entire population of trees going to feed a local sawmill. But that was Green Timbers’ past. The future started in 1930 when a massive reforestation program was undertaken to renew what had been so precious--an urban forest. Over the ensuing decades groves of native evergreen trees were planted with glorious results. Now administered by the Surrey Parks and Recreation Commission, Green Timbers is open for the enjoyment and education of all people. It is a mix of remnant woodland and natural regrowth displaying 60-year-old specimens of vine maple, broadleaf maple, western red cedar, hemlock, Douglas fir and grand fir. For further information call the Green Timbers Heritage Society.

Martin Luther said it best about 460 years ago when asked what he would do on the last day of his life. He simply stated, “I would plant a tree.”

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