ONE OF THE FAMILY
Big chestnut tree started life in a cup, a gift for Father’s Day 1979.
Tree of the Week showcases some of the biggest and most beautiful trees in the GTA. Here, Raptors season ticket holders Howard Detsky and his son Stuart tell us about their beloved horse chestnut tree that has grown up alongside each of their families and is often featured in family photos in front of their North York home.
Howard Detsky
Our big, beautiful horse chestnut tree started its life in a Styrofoam cup.
My oldest son, Stuart, planted the nutlike seed when he was in senior kindergarten as part of a school project for Father’s Day. That was in 1979, which makes our tree 40 years old.
As far as we know, it was the only seed of the ones the kids took home to ever grow into a tree.
After Stuart brought home his potted seed, he and I watered it regularly and kept it going in the Styrofoam cup until May 1980, when we planted it in the ground.
It was a very small tree for many years until, at some point in the 1990s, it just started to grow and grow and grow.
The tree has since split into three trunks and I’ve had an arborist install wire brackets to prevent it from splitting further and falling down.
The tree is magnificent, especially in early June when it is covered in white blossoms, and its trunk now measures more than two metres (6 feet, 7 inches) in circumference.
Over the years, both my son and I have told the story of how this tree came to be and everyone is always amazed at how it has flourished. Stuart Detsky My recollections of the chestnut tree during its earliest years are hazy because I was so young when I brought it home for Father’s Day.
But I do remember being excited when the little chestnut root didn’t die right away like those my classmates took home.
I also remember being excited when we planted the baby tree in the ground in 1980. It was great to see it survive the summer.
Another interesting chapter in our tree story is that we moved houses in October or November of 1984.
At that time, our horse chestnut tree was still quite small and fragile and most people would have left it behind (since I assume most people don’t take trees with them when they move).
But because my father and I truly brought this tree to life and nurtured it for the previous four years, we both knew that it had to make the move with us.
Somehow, uprooting it and moving it to our new location, about a 20-minute drive away, did not cause any issue as the tree survived and has continued to grow on my parents’ North York front lawn.
Our tree has always been a topic of conversation in our family, and many of our family photos have the chestnut tree in the background.
I now have three young children and they can’t believe our tree story. We have numerous small plants in our house, all of which my children hope will become the next big tree, just like “Daddy’s chestnut tree.” The Star wants to hear about the most significant trees in your neighbourhood. Send an email to mogilvie@thestar.ca with a photo of your tree and the following information: Tree type (species), trunk circumference (measured at chest height), location of the tree and a short explanation of why this tree deserves recognition. We may share your submission with readers in the Star and on thestar.com.