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Get To Know Three of Edmonton’s Most Common Trees

Here in Edmonton, there are a lot of trees to take in. Whether you live in The Grange, The Palisades, Pilot Sound or any of Edmonton’s widely variegated neighbourhoods, you probably have a special relationship with the trees that happen to grow where you live. One thing that we really love about the summer is that it makes you slow down to look at all of the flora in bloom and really consider the miracles of nature. You don’t have to be a poet or a tree removal expert in Edmonton to appreciate a nice tree, it’s only natural as a human being that you would feel a kinship with the energy of other living things – even if those living things are trees

In the first season of Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, one character suggests that there should be an app called “Treezam” that would tell you what kind of tree you were looking at when you took a photo of it. We love the idea of an app that could educate everybody about the names and different characteristics of the trees in their neighbourhood, but until Google can produce this amazing technology, we’d like to offer our humble services to help you get to know your tall, leafy neighbours.

Green Ash: A very common tree with grayish-brown bark that is extremely smooth when the trees are young but grows fissured and rough as the trees grow older. They produce green leaves as well as flowers when they bloom in the spring and turn a golden yellow in autumn as the leaves die. Green Ash trees are currently threatened by an Asian Beetle called the Emerald Ash Borer; the trees are extremely tough when it comes to urban pollution and winter salting, but the beetles have been a huge problem. If you need help removing a stump because you were forced to cut down a Green Ash that was killed by an invasive species, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our expert arborists.

Scotch Pine: These trees give off a wise and ancient energy; the oldest recorded Scotch Pine lived for 750 years in Lapland, Finland. The thick, dark bark gives way to thinner, orange bark towards the trees flat rounded apex. The pines (leaves, as we arborists refer to them) are a bluish-green that turns to a dark green-yellow in the winter. The cones, which actually act as the trees’ reproductive organs, are red early on and then slowly turn to the more recognizable brown colour.

Chokecherry: Chokecherry Trees are sometimes altogether denied the label of tree and instead referred to as a suckering shrub. The small black fruits that these trees produce are extremely astringent to taste unless they are at peak ripeness. Overall, not a great snack, but allegedly they are extremely high in antioxidants. Historically, the cherries have been relied on for sustenance, but if you have access to some fresh strawberries or mangoes, these sour little cherries might pale in comparison. Some people consider these trees to be a pest because they host the tent caterpillar, which can be destructive to other fruit plants.

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These are just a few of the hundreds and thousands of trees in Alberta and beyond. Hopefully this post will get you thinking about the lives of the trees on and around your property. If you happen to notice that one of your trees is looking a bit shaggy and worn, you can always rely on our tree pruning services for help. Take the time to get to know your local trees, and don’t hesitate to call Chipps when they seem like they’re in trouble!