Saskatoon residents out for an afternoon stroll will notice something slightly different about the home at 3441 Normandy St. in Montgomery.
That’s because the recently crowned broadest tree in the province sits on the front yard.
Judy Junor and her husband have five towering poplar trees in their front yard and it wasn’t until a friend from out of town suggested they measure the biggest one.
She took it a step further – finding out the tree trunk had to be three feet off the ground in order to be considered, and its competition was a tree in Blaine Lake.
“We started calling around to see who could verify that and what would happen if it was. I had to nominate the tree. The environment people gave all the info,” Junor said.
Certified arborist Robin Adair says hybrid poplars are the bully of the bunch when it comes to growth.
“What it does is it sends out a chemical to the other trees to slow them down. It’s allelopathy. So, as it’s getting bigger it’s sending out its roots and telling the other trees to quit growing,” he said.
The roughly 60-year-old tree measures 18-and-a-half-feet around with a diameter of nearly six feet.
He adds it’s rare to see trees get this big within city limits based on size restrictions on home properties.
“If you are in a small yard like any of the new yards around town, there’s not enough room for one tree, let alone a hybrid poplar,” Adair said.
Junor didn’t receive a certificate for the honour which is fine by her, but wishes she could have got something to hang on the tree for people passing by.
“Lots of walkers go by here and I don’t even mind if they take a selfie.”
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