My new summer project : Find the oldest tree in Leslieville, Riverside or Riverdale!
Children love outdoor projects. And it’s my job as a parent to get them excited about being outdoors. This has become a bit of a battle with my 9 year old – who has become obsessed with MINECRAFT (A building block video game if you aren’t familiar). So I recently posed the question: What is the oldest tree in our neighbourhood? Perhaps it WAS the silver maple at the Maple Cottage on Laing Street, but it is no longer, as a storm took it down last summer. The Ontario tree honour roll has no mentions of anything in the Toronto area. It is here. The oldest tree in Toronto is thought to a a Bur Oak on a private property in the Annex, the Toronto Star recently wrote about it. It is 400 years old. If only trees could talk. An interesting anecdote but this doesn’t help us with the search for the oldest local tree.
I have done my research on how to determine a tree’s age by its circumference. I have also assembled my crack team of tree age experts (My two children, and older tree loving dog).
But here is where you can help – Is there a tree that you think might be the oldest? We have a list of possibilities but we are looking for possible nominees! Please comment on the thread below.
Thanks for your help and have a great summer!
Ben Ferguson
