TreeFest was a great event! It was held on sunny September 11, 2016 at the Riverview Hospital grounds (2601 Lougheed Highway) in Coquitlam, BC. It was well worth the visit. Incredibly, this was my first-ever TreeFest. As an arborist, every year I would get excited by seeing ads for the event only to get sabotaged by my own schedule. Not this year. I even brought my eight-year-old son along.
We took the first free tree walk at 11 a.m. because we had another planned stop later in the day at Toys’ R Us. I digress. It was a pleasant surprise to see my arborist friend Paul Buikema lead the walk. Paul expertly breezed through the sixty-minute walk, informed, entertained and answered all questions. We had a nice group, too, considering it was the first tour to go.
In 2014 I briefly drove through the grounds with my municipal gardener boss. After my tree walk I have an even better appreciation for the trees that live on the grounds. Most are beautiful mature specimens. Many you don’t see much; some are mature specimens of well-known species. All deserve to be saved from development. Period. I will write letters to Coquitlam mayor Stewart and BC Premier Christy Clark. I think you should, too. Or visit the site first and form your own opinion.
Trees
Tree failure example
Lessons from a dead birch
Let’s save this place from development.
