Parents lift babies to touch leaves of weeping beech tree
Tree of the Week is a new weekly feature that will showcase some of the biggest and most beautiful trees in the GTA, compiled by Megan Ogilvie. Here, Martha Parrott tells us about the glorious European weeping beech tree that dominates her front yard.
This tree isn’t ours; it belongs to the city, but we love it as our own.
So do the people on our street, Braemore Gardens, which is just west of Wychwood Park in Toronto.
Its trunk is 218 cm in circumference and, at its widest span, its canopy is close to 15 metres.
We believe the tree has been here for at least as long as the house, which was built in 1922, but probably longer.
The trunk is typical of beech trees: smooth, grey bark and a little bit of a spread at the very bottom, like an elephant’s leg and foot; ours even has a “knee.”
Our tree serves as an umbrella in inclement weather and an air conditioner in summer; it envelops the front of the house and makes the front bedrooms seem like rooms in a tree house.
It usually houses a minimum of five squirrels’ nests at a time.
The large supporting branches are magical when covered in snow and the weeping tendrils, often several metres long, caress the air and sometimes tall passersby. We have seen parents lift their babies up into the leaves.
It can be hazardous to strangers, but only because they are looking up as they pass under rather than watching where they are going.
I started by saying that this is a city tree. In reality, no one owns a tree like this; we are just honoured to share its space for a little while.