Ash tree

This one may be an Oregon Ash (fraxinus latifolia), a rare native species or it could be an introduced Black Ash (fraxinus nigra). Anyway, it's in my neighbour's yard and is covering my yard with leaves. White Ash (fraxinus americana) is common where I grew up in Grey County, Ontario. White Ash is a very tough wood that is ideal for chairmaking. Black Ash (also called Swamp Ash) is used in baskets, pallets, and Fender guitar bodies. I doubt there is much of a market for Oregon Ash but I'd love to rive one into chair parts.

Butternut

Butternut (juglans cinerea) is a native of Ontario and Quebec. We have a couple of beauties in Victoria. This one is at the edge of the Garry Oak meadow at Government House. Another big one is on the west side of the Legislature. Butternut is a relative of Black Walnut (juglans nigra) and apparently the nuts are edible but I haven't tried them. The wood is soft for a deciduous tree but looks very nice. It's a buttery/amber colour with wavy grain. Some old eastern-Canadian furniture was Butternut, I love using it for chair seats.

Garry Oak

Eastern Canada has Red Oak (quercus rubra) and White Oak (quercus alba). On Vancouver Island we're lucky to have native Garry Oak (quercus garryana). These trees grow in meadows and can reach a huge size. The meadows are nice in the spring when Camas blossom around the trees. The branches break off during windstorms so they grow in twisted, crooked forms.

The wood is similar to White Oak but has more rich colours. It is a beautiful material for chairs I like to build.

Welcome to Canadian Trees

Hello, my name is Ted Hodson. I'm a woodworker in Victoria, BC and would love to share photos and info about our local trees. Here's a start. It's a Pacific Yew (taxus brevifolia) growing at Government House in Victoria. It's tucked away behind an electrical panel and doesn't seem to get much respect what with the hoses and tools leaning against it. The concrete guardian seems like an appropriate companian because of the myths that people have made up about the European Yew (taxus baccata). Yew trees are native to this area and grow very slowly. I occasionally use yewwood for furniture. One log I had was 10" in diameter and 150 years old.