Some local trees are at least 400-years-old and grow to 110-feet in height, with almost the same spread. Their main trunks can be up to 50-inches in diameter. Oak Bay's famous "Sloan Oak" at 1069 Beach Drive is one giant with a heritage. A plaque in front recalls the memory of the Hon. Gordon Sloan, jurist and forester.
And if you see a Garry oak snaking along the grass, with no apparent attention of vertical growth, don't be alarmed, it's perfectly normal. The "Reclining Oaks" of Oak Bay are so named because the trees grow on their sides in a reclining position. A beautiful specimen is at 3375 Midland Road.
An interesting story, though unverified, tells of the naming of these reclining trees as "Treaty Oaks". Apparently, the Indian tribes used this area to sign treaties. Part of the ceremony was to bend over a Garry oak sapling and place a stone on the trunk to hold it in place. If the tree continued to grow from this bent position, the treaty was upheld.
* This information supplies by the Oak Bay web site.
