Calgary snow: Residents mourn the loss of matured trees

Some Calgarians say they are heartbroken over the loss of matured trees after heavy, wet snow caused widespread damage in the city.

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"Me and my husband went walking last night and kind of looked at the carnage and then we walked past here and it actually made me get teary cause wejust saw this giant chunk of this tree come down," said resident Sheena Johnson, adding the Cottonwood tree hasbeen in the northwest community of Crescent Heightsfor roughly a century.

"It's just sort of a special centrepiece. I meanwe really have treasured it, so Idon't even know if it will be able to survive this."

Johnson won't know if the tree can be saved untilthe citycomes tosurvey the damage.

The city says about 3,800"tree emergencies" have been called into its 311 line.The scale of the damage is so great thatthe mayor is asking for people's patienceandhelp.

"Work with your neighbours.Work with your friends," said Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

"If it's safe,you can now start to pick up and take tree debris to City of Calgary landfills. If you've got a truck, and you're willing to help out your neighbours, this would be a great thing to do."

Nenshisaidit will take days maybeeven weeksto clear away the broken tree branches scattered on roads and sidewalks around Calgary.

Landfills waive tipping fees

Chainsaws were buzzing in many city neighbourhoods today as work crews started getting fallen tree limbs off of streets.

Residents can take branches to city landfills for free, or cut them intopieces smallerthan 1.2 metresand stack them beside garbage and recycling bins.It might take awhile, but officials say city crews will eventually pick them up.

The city is also asking people notto put trees and branches in the black, blue or green carts.

"We run the risk of breaking the carts andmoreimportantly,or as importantly, is breaking our vehicles if they are in those carts," said DaveGriffiths, the head of waste and recycling services.

"And we want to be able to maintain our operations and work on the plan to get those collected over time ."

All of the city'sleaf andpumpkin drop-off locationswill also begin accepting tree debris on Saturday.

'It's sad'

"It's sad to see those trees come down," said landscaper Byron Wickerson. "Some of them, you know, they might replant them but it's going to take another 40 or 50 years for them to come back."

Troy Hillman, an arbourist who was dropping off debris at the Spyhill landfill, agreed it's tough to see.

"[It's] devastating," he said.

"I'd say there'sa couple of hundred thousand trees damaged. I'm guessing, but I mean ...there's probably about 200trees just down on my block and around my block. It's ugly. So we're hoping to get it cleaned up and hopefully we can save some of these trees and we don't have to cut them all down."

He said he even hadcustomers callhimcrying because theyhad their trees for so long and nowthey aredestroyed.

KathSmyth, a horticulturistwith the Calgary Horticultural Society, says forbroken trees it's best to usea proper pruning saw.

"Make sure they take as little bark as possible, push the bark back up onto the tree," she said. "It will help it. And you know gauze bandagea little bit of gauze bandage for about a week to 10 days will help it substantially."

Smythsaid for herBraesidebackyard, which was once an oasis of peace, a certifiedarbouristis coming to take care of her trees at a cost of about $4,000.