Four Garry Oaks scream their death in Victoria B.C

The Pacific Northwest shook today as an earthquake struck off the coast of Vancouver Island. "Captive killer whale was found dead yesterday in his pool at the Vancouver Aquarium." So read two of today's printed headlines! No mention was made of the killing of four trees in Victoria B.C. -- the "City of Gardens." There was however good media coverage -- it was by CHEK T.V.( in 1994?)

"Screaming chainsaws woke up the patient's at Royal Jubilee hospital this morning." Three large Garry Oaks were cut down for construction of the Hospital's new parking lot. ... "the fallers were at work before the people trying to save the trees knew what was happening.

"This stubborn Garry oak known as "tree number 19" was the last to fall. It was the largest on the site with a stem diameter of more than one meter." It may have been a four hundred year old tree, a tree that existed before Columbus discovered the America's -- it was a tree to be deleted for a parking lot. The good news is; some of the wood will be used to build new park benches for the hospital.

Garry Oaks, (Quercus Garryana) have to deal with all sorts of environmental threats and insect predations but the one thing they have not been able to deal with, is the fight with the ax man. The Garry Oak is well adapted to this area of the Pacific Northwest; it has adapted to survive harsh conditions and can deal with extreme drought. With our local cactus, it too is a signature species for this area of Sequim, WA., a near desert before irrigation. With the Madrona it may prove to be one of the few trees on our coast that can adapt to future climatic warming.

The Garry Oak is also called the Oregon oak and in superb sittings can attain a height of 100 ft. and has a winter silhouette rivaled only by the cottonwood. It is also an incredibly long lived tree and its range extends from B.C. south to the mountains of coastal Santa Cruz. There is also a much smaller sub-species (near shrub oak) that exists in the northern Mts. of CA.More common in Oregon, there are few places in Washington State and British Columbia where Garry Oaks thrive.

In Canada, they grow NOWHERE else but on southern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and two isolated groves in the lower Frazer Valley. In British Columbia only 150 years of agricultural practices and urban sprawl have reduced the Garry Oak ecosystem to less than 5% of their original habitat. With our mounting subdivision's (like Victoria's), existing and inter-connective meadows of the Garry Oak no longer exist. We have islands of these trees, but that is all. And properties that own these trees have certain 'maintenance' problems. Worse news regarding 'Native Oaks' comes from California ... read links below. As these meadows are further reduced, so do we also lose habitat for plants, birds and other creatures that enhance OUR lives; but may not be there for our children. Garry Oak meadows house a huge amount of other native plants and animals, it has been estimated that over a thousand species are related to Garry oak meadows. With their ever- shrinking habitat, it is no wonder that one fifth of BC's rare plant species are also related to the Garry Oak. A link to a few of the other inhabitants of the Garry Oak Meadow.

Be it from the overgrazing by cattle or the introduction of non-native plant species such as Scotch broom, orchard grass or other, it is near impossible to find an uncorrupted meadow. In cities the loss is even faster. Garry Oaks like the Big Leaf Maple are prone to developing dead limbs. These may fall and create damage to the house built beneath. Their litter is messy and considering that the average homeowner invests himself in a property for only five years ... many of these trees find themselves needing to be "removed".All of the Olympic Peninsula communities recognize this problem. This Oak is protected in Port Townsend, Sequim as well as in Port Angeles. They are not in Victoria! If ever a tree species deserves a Heritage designation it should be the Garry Oak, and tree cutting laws need to be instituted to protect them!

The Garry Oak as a garden tree

The Pacific Northwest shook today as an earthquake struck off the coast of Vancouver Island." Perhaps it was the earth itself giving a Welcome to Victoria; or an Earth Day message to the "City of Gardens!" "To plant a tree is an act of faith in the earth An act of hope for the future. An act of humanity towardscoming generationsWho will enjoy its fruitsAfter we shall be gone." L. Mercier (1740-1814)

'To save a tree is also an act of faith FOR the future!'

Skyline Nursry continues to grow them and so does the wholesale grower Heritage Seedlings in Oregon
A CALIFORNIA BATTLE!

Be it on Vancouver Island, WA State or in California, mankind remains the greatest enemy to these trees. If men can be held back in their destructive march to specie annihalation, these oaks will continue to hold their own against nature, droughts and caterpillers. We target the man driving the bulldozer, or wielding the chainsaw, but just as dangerous is the homeowner putting down the asphalt or overfertilizing the lawn that is now planted around it.

And while I'm in a bad neighbor frame of mind. Welcome to Victoria -- the intimate and sophisticated city, the capitol of B.C. and the premier tourist spot in the Northwest! She is also a dirty old lady that has for decades continued to flush her raw sewage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. No amount of bluster, or threats of tourist boycotts have moved the Victorian's to clean up their act. For years provincial studies have been made and proof's given that emptying their toilet into the ocean less than twenty miles away, shouldn't worry me. Heck, a sewage-loving worm has actually increased its population density. Picture of a fish eagerly eyeing it as a meal] As Tom Leherer once sang in "Pollution -- It's in the water..." Victorians continue to insist that the Strait's fast flowing currents flush it out. If the population of crabs and mollusks have been reduced ... rest assured the survivors are surviving on "----".So the next time you dine in Victoria just remember that viruses cannot be killed just be exposing them to cold water. Pathogens such as Cholera, gut bacteria and polioviruses can survive at great ocean depths -- all within the diving range of whales, elephant seals, as well as bottom eating fish. I hope that on Earth Day you remember to order some flounder!

Victoria sewage worms feeding off the outflow pipes, feeding the flounder.
I was never supposed to go to bed angry. I suppose what I wish to communicate most importantly, is that life (like gardening) is made of the sharing of experiences, of wonderous adventures and successes, balanced by mistakes and losses. It is also a fighting commitment to one's life, to one's home and to one's community: to cherish, nurture and appreciate what we are blessed with on a daily basis.

As I grow older I am ever more convinced, it is not that we should be concerned about the world we leave to our children, but how to treat the world they have left to us!

May it not be this.

Best Wishes,

© Herb Senft 1994

Where have all the Sequoia's gone?

Not Garry Oak related -- but about city, county managment of trees.

As a horticulturist, tree grower, pruner and planter I must take exception to the city’s decision to remove (murder) these beautiful trees. I must also take issue with the reporting on this story. Five stumps put to question the number of this serial crime. Further, misrepresenting that these “three” trees had “no market value,” and would soon be turned into firewood. Ask any woodworker or Eden Saw Lumber what redwood planks sell for? Those prices are for Coast Redwood, not for the much rarer Sequoia gigantea. It is such a valuable a lumber tree, that I have been planting 500 of them on a logged off property for future commercial harvesting. Recently, one experimental grove of these trees was logged off and shipped back to CA. Blue Mtn.Tree Services hauled these trees off, as logs and I am sure that they will be milled into lumber quickly. The property owner should be given compensation for this wood.

As to references that “several people expressed gratitude for the removal when walking by.” What a crock. As I drove by, I hit my brakes, looked over to a woman watching and made to wipe tears from my eyes. She nodded in agreement!

Returning to the root cause of this action, the avoidance of trip-and fall lawsuits. It is all too common that many cities cut down mature shade trees when their roots buckle sidewalks. Sometimes they are the very trees that incompetent city planners insisted the developer’s plant. Sycamore Maples being one horrible example. IMO, the cost of removing these Sequoia’s probably exceeded the cost of repairing the concrete sidewalk. There are however, alternatives. One being rubber sidewalks. These elastic tiles look like brick paving and are a good alternative for addressing tree root sidewalk issues. Best of all they last for decades and do much to recycle some of our environmental waste.

I would expect public work officials to be skeptical but these trees might have been a good test project.
The individual panels can be glued to together and can be easily lifted up and replaced after roots are trimmed or more sand is layed beneath.

Sequim needs all the mature trees it has and less strip malls. Trees and sidewalks have competing needs, trees can ruin sidewalks, and sidewalk repairs or asphalting often kill the trees. Both sidewalks and trees are costly and valuable, so both needs must be understood. Most damage to sidewalks occurs as the roots become thicker, but it also occurs due to natural expansion and contraction. Cracks in sidewalks allow water to seep in causing damage, roots being opportunistic follow the water and air they need to breath.

We now come to aesthetics: Sequim is becoming ever more ugly, ripping out beautiful trees simply doesn’t help at all. Too much city planning is based upon corporate agendas, incompetent city engineers, ignoring those they are supposed to serve. If we want humane city life, then we damn better start paying attention that humanists are involved in those designs.
Dealing with competing agendas can be difficult. The solution does not always have to be a chainsaw and ax, it may involve comprises, such as narrowing the sidewalk, putting larger curbs around the buttrace of the tree, using rubber pavers, or possibly even accepting uneven sidewalks. If we can put up signs to protect us from Elk crossings, why not a sidewalk sign warning of tree root passings? Pardon my cracks, but this sidewalk is tree empowered.

(Not one newspaper would print this.)

Herb Senft



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Quercus garryana -- Garry Oak - Oregon White Oak

This is a proud relic of majestic Garry Oak forests that ranged from CA. to British Columbia. Sadly development has intruded into these pasture loving Oaks. It is my fear that in the coming decades we will loose even the five percent that now remain.

Garry Oak facts

Despite all negatives, the Garry Oak can actually be considered as one of the most beautiful choices as a shade tree. Though slow growing, it casts only moderate shade and has a very deep and well-behaved root system.
Large specimens can be 75-100 feet high with trunks up to five feet in diameter. These trees can be 500 years old, and even smaller trees only 30 feet high can be 200 years old.
The other native oak in the Northwest is the California Black Oak. Q. kellogii Though faster growing, it is shorter lived, but as they will live some 200 or 300 the gardener should have little reason to complain.

I find it interesting that people plant fast growing, disease prone large trees such as Black Locust or Willow, chose to ignore the Oak. Not only do these trees drop equal or greater litter, their root systems are a total menace to the garden beneath.

Oak trees are of major importance to both man and wildlife. Here in the Pacific Northwest The Garry Oak, Quercus Garryana is one of our most stately trees. It is also a food source or habitat zone for many wildlife species. Their acorns are highly critical when other foods are scarce. When the acorn crop fails many a linked wildlife species suffer. Squirrels and other rodents store their acorns for winter use, they in turn are preyed upon by other species. Deer also browse on the foliage and twigs and are preyed upon by the cougar.

In addition to food value, the heavy litter produced by the tree provides wildlife cover for a great many other plant species. The leaves and twigs are used by birds as nesting material.
We need to do much more as our wetlands, marshes and wild areas become ever more diminished. I used to live on Lulu Island, near Vancouver B.C. It was alluvial soil some fifty ft. thick, wonderful soil that once cherished a rich bio-diverse plant community. It then was farmed. Peas, Blueberries etc. I used to pick vegetables with my mother on those farms. Now it is Richmond, a huge city that has paved over most of those acreages. The same has occurred in the former dairy community of Sequim, WA.

Aside from paving over these areas we have increased noise pollution, cut off normal migrations of animal species and with the increase of our light pollution we have messed up the cycle of bats, frogs and so many other creatures. One of which is myself. I used to have a clear sky to observe the heavens. No more.

One added petulance of mans intrusion ... we have sucked up the groundwater! Our water table used to be 25 ft. It is now 75 ft. Few tree roots penetrate more than 50 ft. so they begin to die.
The developer brings in an arborist who certifies that these are dying trees -- "Sick, dangerous and should be cut down." They will not live much longer. The city council agrees! So go our Garry Oaks.

One single oak tree carries up to 200 different species of insects. In my own case the Garry Oak was the dominant tree species in our prairie dryland forest. Its success or failure affects near as many plant species that once congregated beneath these beautiful trees. When they are gone, the insects once dependant on these trees go as well, and with the loss of those pollinators so go the smaller things. I once wrote an article on what Victoria B.C. did to a small Garry Oak forest. I will post it later.

That action and others by this "Garden city" has kept me from ever going there again, even though I am but a ferry ride away.

While I regret to be on a semi-rant ending here. I will also add this comment. Buchart Gardens in Victoria is incredibly beautiful. That I will admit. However, look for one insect, they are near gone. The spraying done at dawn before visitors arrive is massive in this and many other of these moneymaking show gardens.

Instead of looking at the flowers, gardeners should equally be looking for the missing bugs!

Resurrecting Garry Oak Meadows

It remains my hope that the Nature Conservancy works to save or expand some of the few remaining Garry Oak meadows. Some of the Gulf Stream Islands or areas in the Cowichan valley seem to be the best opportunities to preserve this ecosystem.

Restoring some damaged acreages is more of a resurrection than a restoration. Still given a chance, these meadows and the prior ecology associated with them can be re-created. First the acreages need to be cleaned of foreign species*, deer controlled so as not to eat the young seedlings. With the replanting and caring of the Oak, many of the other odd species will pop up ... some may have to be collected, propagated and re-introduced into this community. Slowly but surely all these species will begin to thrive and the butterflies, the birds and other wildlife will find the raw materials to return.

Garry Oak meadows don't come in a seed mix like lawn seed. Their re-introduction will be difficult and time consuming. Each new ingredient to this 'meadow' added pinch by pinch. If you are lucky enough to own one of these meadows, please do more research on them, search out others, take not of what grows there and try to add those species to your own.
You might carefully (and light fingered-ly) collect some seed, or better yet, take notes and purchase the seed or the plant from a source handling these wildflowers. Your own meadow may only have a couple of dozen species, a beginner’s meadow ... an invite to catalog and introduce more.

The planting of a prairie involves the correct identification and eradication of grasses and or of plants that do not belong there. These need to be removed -- read the notes below. All other shrubs need to be encouraged, tree seedlings well protected and watered during the first years.
*Clearing of non-native materials. This is an incredible task. It is hard work that involves spring rooting out of plants by hand, or by tilling, and continuing to do so at near by-monthly intervals until fall ... and most possibly into the second summer as well. One other option being the use of chemicals such as gylphosate, which has little poisonous effect on the soil, does not persist and is the least toxic to animals.

I hope all of this helps and encourages you to begin somewhere.In their protection and or resurrection, we too, do our part to enrich this garden called Earth, and what it might be...

(c) Herb Senft