Large Yellow Locust tree move . 14 inch caliper trunk, over 40 feet tall
Planted in early 1960’s now being saved and moved to new location on site.
Gleditsia Tricanthous – Sunburst – leaves bright yellow in spring.
Mature to medium green, Foliage is Golden yellow in fall.
I have returned to the world of blogging – finally! The winter has been busy planning for Spring 2013 as well as wrapping up some of our last years installations. We have had two months to prepare and we are no where near ready. If we have an early March like last year it is going to be crazy. The hiatus from blogging is not because I haven’t been working on it is that I had to change my platform due to the amount of pictures that I put on my blog. But that’s what my blog is all about – pictures of the ever changing scenery around here. As we specialize in rare and unique products and rare and unique installations – they need to be photographed!. We spent most of November and December and into January doing a large installation of huge trees in the town of Goderich. On August 21, 2011 an F3 tornado ripped through this pretty little town. The winds were up to 360 kilometers per hour and it lasted only 12 seconds. In that short time it killed one man and destroyed homes and businesses and changed the lives of the people of Goderich forever. The pictures are quite devastating. The Courthouse Square Park is in the centre of town and is the hub of the town and is where people came to gather. It was a beautiful spot with lots of big trees for people to sit under in the summer. That is where the tornado whipped through and destroyed all the trees. Thus with all re-building going on the people of the town wanted the park to be re-built as well. That’s where we came in. We were approached by the Town to help re-build the park with large trees. And that we did. Fifty foot trees came back to the centre of the town! It is started with a huge parade of trees coming into the town – escorted by fire trucks and police cars. It was nice to see people gathered for the first tree being put into the ground, Some people were actually crying. So for the months of November and December we trekked back and forth to Goderich with more trees. 176 of them to be exact. It was unique and very satisfying project that made us feel good about helping re-build the town. The townsfolk were wonderful and very supportive. The Town of Goderich with whom I had to deal with were just as wonderful as well. In an attempt to some up the past few months work and a repeat visit in the Spring I will put a gallery of pictures together. I took thousands of pictures from the beginning of this project until the end. It will be quite exciting to go back in the Spring and take pictures of the final project.
The first of the trucks arrives on the scene at Court House Square after the fire trucks
The Parade Begins…
I have a backlog of all my pictures with all the loading and preparation we did for the parade of trees that we participated in this past Saturday, November 10th, 2012 in the Town of Goderich. It was a huge success. But I will have more on that shortly. I think I should go into some detail of how it all coordinated before the actual parade. The nursery was a hub of activity this past week, from digging to loading. And of course, these are not just small trees – they are huge. With many milestones and unexpected things happening we managed to get it done. It was all very exciting and we are still in the process with much more to do. But here is a glimpse of the hard work behind the scenes. Most of these trees are too big to be dug with a tree spade and require hand digging and to be drum strung. It is better for the survival of the trees as we know exactly where the roots end. As you can see from the pictures it is a lot of hard work and requires special transportation. Out of the 150 trees we have for Goderich – this is only a glimpse. We are still digging. If anyone was at the parade and saw the first planting on Saturday – there are still bigger specimens to arrive. As you can see from the pictures below – we still have alot of trees still to come..
It is Halloween already! Geez – where has the time gone??? We thought the Spring was busy – nobody prepared us for the Fall! We have been busy this past month selecting and digging large tree specimens for the Town of Goderich. A little over a year ago the most powerful tornado to hit the province in years swept through the southwestern Ontario town of Goderich, killing one person and devastating the picturesque community on the shore of Lake Huron. Century-old buildings, churches and homes were either damaged or destroyed as well as many of the old trees. Winds of roughly 280 km/h carved a path about 500 metres wide through the town’s centre – right through the downtown core. In the downtown core is the Court House Square that was home to hundreds of large trees. Only 3 remain. It has taken the community over year to generate a master plan and start the re-building the town. That is where we come in – we are replacing some of the trees in the town square. But they couldn’t be just any trees there had to be large specimens to re-create the canopy that was once there. The trees will range anywhere between 30 – 50 feet and will require a large crane to to lift them. They will be moved into the Town of Goderich on large flatbed trucks – some of them will only fit one per truck. Quite an effort was put into selecting the trees through the Director of Operations and Parks Superintendent of the Town of Goderich, as well as Landscape Architect based out of Toronto. Most of the trees are native to Southern Ontario and include Oaks, Maples, Chestnuts to name a few. I have includes some pictures of the tagging and digging process and will be updating frequently – here is the beginning of a great project that we are so happy to be involved with…
 |
| Black Oak Tagged |
 |
| Dawn Redwood being drum strung |
 |
| Freemannii Maples |
 |
| Kentucky Coffee Tree |
.JPG) |
| Beginning to dig Pin Oaks |
.JPG) |
| Showing the proceedure…. |
 |
| Tagging Red Sunset Maples |
 |
| Scarlet Oak Tagged |
 |
| More Scarlet Oaks |
.JPG) |
| Birch Trees Tagged |
.JPG) |
| Red Oak |
.JPG) |
| Add caption |
 |
| Blue Beech |
.JPG) |
| Green Vase Zelkovas Tagged |
.JPG) |
| Digging of the Elms |
 |
| Elms at the end of the day |
 |
| Kentucky Coffee Trees after digging |
 |
| The Elms beig dug |
.JPG) |
| Starting of another day of digging |
 |
| Root ball of the Dawn Redwood |
.JPG) |
| Pin Oaks |
 |
| Finishing up the Pin Oaks… |
In one of my previous posts I wrote about the highest trees in Toronto. Twenty six of our Hornbeam trees were lifted to the 65th floor of the Shangri La Hotel in downtown Toronto. We have since planted them in June as the construction progressed. Now, as the hotel is nearly finished so was the final part of our installation. We had to install some large Sculptured Pines to the third floor and the sixth floor. This installation also included installing some large granite rock. Not any rock mind you – this took weeks of preparation and searching southern Ontario’s quarries to find the perfect pieces. Many quarries were searched with the final selection coming out of Havlock Ontario – east of Peterborough. It was not just one trip to the quarry – it was several. It was necessary to place the rock before it left and cut it so the pieces would fit in the precise manner required on the the third floor. And then there were the trees. They were sourced last fall from a nursery on the west coast. They came to PAO early in the Spring and were healed in the ground and maintained and pruned until the construction of the third and sixth floor were complete. Which was last weekend. Then there was the prep work of the actual installation. These rocks weigh 10,000 lbs – not easy to move. So with the coordination of several people, we finally were ready to install. We required an extra large crane for this as the rocks were so heavy. We finally got a permit and were able to close down two lanes of University Avenue for the weekend. The crane was set up and then it was show time. The rocks went up first followed by the trees. Once the trees were up they they then had to be manoeuvred into position. These trees are very valuable and have distinct formations so the placement of them is crucial. Once they are in position they will not be moved again. It was exciting and neat to see it all come together (didn’t need the rain though!). The crane operators were amazing – the coordination between the two of them was tremendous. Think of it -the crane guy (Michael) on the ground can’t see a thing on the third floor or sixth floor – yet he is operating the crane. So the the guy on the third floor (Scott) is directing him literally every inch of the way. Pretty spectacular. And of course there are our guys – who just adapt with each obstacle. It doesn’t matter how well you plan things in this industry, there is always something unforeseen. I think the pictures are self explanatory – and there are alot of them – hope you enjoy!
My apologies for not blogging lately, but I was on holidays. And as usual when you go on holidays there is much to do before you leave and lots to catch up on when you get back. While we enjoyed the nice beautiful hot weather by the lake, when I got back you can imagine my horror to seeing how the plants are coping with the heat. Alot of the Japanese Maples leaves’ are burning as well as many of the other trees, some are defoliating altogether. But one Japanese Maple is sitting out in the bright sun and doing well – and it is my favourite. I take billions of pictures around here and I always take some of that guy. It’s funny cause when it was little he didn’t look so good – so we put him in the back field where he couldn’t be seen. Now look at him! Cinderella story or what! When customers come in I always point out my beauty tree but don’t really make an effort to sell it. They always ooh and ahh on how beautiful it is! And expensive! So I am confident my tree will be here for a while. It was a beautiful bright red in the Spring and looked great against the evergreens and the Princeton Maple. And it is still a nice red now – can hardly wait til fall. So you can imagine my horror when a couple was interested in the tree. Oh – how they tried to show them something else but the couple kept coming back to that tree. And then -egad – they bought it!!! Agggh! And then to add more pain – they wanted it the next day! Not alot of time for parting photo ops! But I did. I waited til the end of the day for the sun not to be so bright and then I could catch the red of the leaves. They dug it after I left and it was already tarped when I got it in the next morning. What!!!! So I told the crew leader who was planting it that day to phone me when he was close to the customer’s house so I could come down and take some photos. The clients who purchased the tree were fine to let me take some photos (they were very nice!). So I happliy clicked away. I must say it looks beautiful in front of their home, but the island bed where it stood looks naked. It’s weird how you get attached to some things. And I must say – I miss my tree. Really – I mean it is a tree for pete’s sake! I have billion things to blog about but today it is about my tree. The client’s said they would send some pictures of my baby when the landscaping is done – hope they do!
 |
| My Tree in the Spring |
 |
| Another Spring Picture |
 |
| In the Summer… |
 |
| The night before it left… |
 |
| Another parting picture…. |
 |
| Ready to get plantedd |
 |
| Here we go…. |
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG) |
| In it;s new home |
 |
| Bye bye happy tree! |
.JPG) |
| I really does look nice there… |
I apologize for the gap between blogs. And I promise not to do it again! Geez – I might even blog tomorrow I have so much to say! I guess I focus on going through the nursery for the ever changing scenery that I forget the transformations our crews do on residential and commercial properties. It really is amazing. We are currently working on a site that I was able to get pictures from the beginning and during. And hopefully today they will finish and I can get final pictures of the end product. I know we are known for our rare and unique plants and mature trees but we do amazing landscape creations as well. Our crews have over 20 years of installation experience – and are very nice people to boot! We are finding that people are looking for privacy and do not want to look at a fence. A natural screen of green is fast becoming the most asked question. You will see a little of this in the pictures below. We had a film crew in these past 2 weeks as well as on site with some of crews to see these transformations. Thus the lull in blogs. They are interested in the mature trees and the installations and all the other stuff that goes on a daily basis. As I said before – moving big trees always creates a stir maybe because we think of them as timeless and stately. One thing for sure is it is always interesting and it is always changing!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
One thing about working in a nursery there is never a dull moment! As well as you plan your day – you never get enough done, there is always something changing. On Wednesday we had to move a 25′ foot tree from your yard to Vaughan. We had no notice and it had to be dug, burlapped, roped and lifted on out truck and delivered to the crane site by 3:00. We got notice of this at 11:00. It is remarkable what can be accomplished when everyone works together. Not only was this beautiful specimen tucked in a back field – we had to move/lift it between trees! The Abies concolour (White Fir) has a beautiful conical shape and a wonderful bluish to grayish foliage – take a look at the photos below – it really is a gem of a tree. As usual with Mother Nature the plants are flowering and doing their things all the time – I can hardly keep up. The Amelanchiers (Serviceberries) are now producing their berries which you can eat (soon). The Pee Gee Hydrangea standards are setting to bloom and I will keep an eye on them. They will put on a spectacular show! Noticed a neat Ulmus caripnifolia (Elm) on my journey – notice its neat weeping shape and leaves. This time I did have my camera with me. To add to the excitement, we received a new shipment from the West Coast. Two trucks arrived at the same time (although they left a day apart). Some gorgeous product to look at – Japanese Maples, Boxwood specimens, large Beech trees and an assortment of evergreens. I will have more pictures shortly. As it is now I have enough pictures to view…more than usual this week…enjoy! It is always something different…
 |
| New Shipment – Weeping Japanese Maples |
 |
| Astilbe ‘Maggie Daley’ |
 |
| A view of our Island Planting |
 |
| Another view of Island Planting |
.JPG "Amelanchier canadensis") |
| Amelanchier canadensis |
.JPG "Amelanchier canadensis") |
| A view of the Amelanchier Shrub |
 |
| Abies concolour rootball |
 |
| Aiming to go through 2 trees! |
 |
| An unusual view of the top of the tree |
 |
| Side view of the tree |
 |
| Here comes the root ball! |
 |
| Onto the truck… |
 |
| Loading Abies concolour onto the truck… |
 |
| On the truck |
 |
| Getting ready to leave. |
 |
| Ulmus carpinus |
 |
| Pee Gee Hydrangea Std |
 |
| Pee Gee Hydrangea STD |
 |
| New shipment |
 |
| Our Island Planting |
In March we had the privledge of hand digging a large Weeping Purple Beech tree and saving it from being chopped down. This lovely specimen came into our yard and graced us with its beautiful purple foliage, and became a focal point in our nursery. I watched it come in our yard naked of foliage – tall and stark in the horizon. I would view it everyday out of my office window. I watched the tender leafs emerge a perfect lime green and then turning to a dark maroon. But alas, it was not to be here for long. It is now gracing one of our customers’ backyards and looking like it had been there forever. The picture in one of my previous blogs shows the arrival of this huge tree. I took over 100 pictures yesterday of what we call ‘The Weeping Beech Tree Move’ and have narrowed it down to a few to give you an idea of the process. In this particular case we had to use a large crane truck and had to lift the tree over an existing fence and other trees to place it in the hole. The guys make it look so easy but I know that manipulating a root ball of 23,500 lbs is not an easy feat!! As I mentioned before, watching a huge tree fly through the air is sight that is truly spectacular. And it all happens so fast! Each tree is different – and where it comes from – and where is goes to – is always unique. Just another day at the office!
 |
| Where the Beech tree grew up. |
 |
| The root ball. |
 |
| View of our beech before loading. |
 |
| Another view of our Beech at the yard. |
 |
| Getting ready to load. |
 |
| Being loaded on the truck. |
 |
| Tarped and ready to go! |
 |
| Digging the hole! |
 |
| The tree has arrived! |
 |
| Getting ready to lift. |
 |
| Here we go! |
 |
| A view from the roof! |
 |
| Coming over the property. |
 |
| It is coming over the fence. |
 |
| Overhead… |
 |
| On the ground. |
 |
| The Weeping Beech has new digs! |