In the last days of his life, my father-in-law Mo had only one obsession: chopping down two trees in his yard – a dead ash tree and a really bad buckthorn. That was also the subject of our last phone call and Mo told me that he wanted to give the job to his neighbor Derek.
Posted at 12:00 p.m
When we took over the house after my father-in-law’s death, we also inherited this task, which he had no time for. We don’t want that big bare ash tree to do any damage if it falls over on a stormy day. I would have liked to keep the sea buckthorn, which I think is beautiful, but it is really sick and doomed. And since you need a permit to cut down trees on your land on the plateau, you can take care of both at the same time. There will only be one lilac left to look forward to in spring.
When Derek offered us his condolences for being Mo’s neighbor since childhood, he also offered his services and while I was chatting with him, I discovered an amazing journey. Last year, at the age of 50, he refocused his career as a pianist in classical interpretation… towards a job as a gardener.
I know many people have been “reinventing” themselves during the pandemic, but how does one go from wing to chainsaw for a living?
Because his musical vocation was serious. Derek Yaple-Schobert has a doctorate in classical piano performance from the University of Montreal, specializes in Scandinavian composers, has recorded two albums and has toured Canada, the United States and Europe.
Life forced her a little when her mother fell ill after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. He became a nurse. “For five years I had to put my career aside to take care of her,” he explains. I won’t deny you that the pandemic has also dealt a blow to the performing arts. »
Coming back to life, he enrolled in a tree pruning DEP at the Center de formation horticole de Laval, whose merits he commends after nine months of study, though of course he was the eldest of the students. “Teachers not only impart knowledge, they impart passion and values,” he says. And I’ve always admired people, regardless of their education, who have the humility to go back to school as adults.
It was in the small hunting camp he owns in a remote corner of Abitibi that Derek discovered his love for nature and the forest, although he loves living in the heart of Montreal. Like my lover, he inherited his parents’ house, bought in 1982, where he has always lived since he was 6 years old. My boyfriend and Derek played together when they were kids but they had trouble recognizing each other as gentlemen when they saw each other again, which made me laugh.
Derek Yaple-Schobert was born in the United States. His stepfather, whom he considers his father, was of Danish descent and his mother taught French as a second language to Americans. He describes himself as a Francophile Anglophone, having grown up in the Plateau and going to school in French – he also speaks Danish, Swedish and German. He remembers a much poorer area where people didn’t care much about trees. This is no longer the case today, as tree felling or pruning not only requires a permit, but it is imperative to replace them with recommended species. I think it’s good that there are rules. In my Center-South neighborhood, a guy once felled a giant tree that provided shade and reduced the heat island for every yard on a block to build a swimming pool for himself. My mother is still angry about it 15 years later.
That’s Derek’s job, taking care of the process from start to finish and working independently: he’s doing it right.
I can tell you that cutting down a tree in the city is not cutting down a tree in the forest. There are safety and space restrictions, you don’t shoot it and yell “wood”; it is debited starting from the top. It’s impressive because I saw Derek with all his gear on top of a large ash tree, borer infested like many others in Montreal, at another neighbor’s street.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
When people hear about Derek’s new job, they’re all curious to know more. Derek discovers that many people have trees that lack love, and word of mouth hits the mark. His schedule fills up quickly. Most recently he hired colleagues for a contract for 25 trees on Rue Dickson in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
He loves his new life and talks about it with bright eyes. “I don’t see trees like that anymore,” he says. But I wonder if it isn’t a very tiring job for the body and if it can do this until retirement. He thinks so because his body is less worn than experienced pruning shears. And I trust him because I tell myself he has to be very meticulous with his pianist’s hands.
As I announced to you last week, this column is on hiatus until the next one, which will be the last when we finally settle into the Usher house.