TORONTO -- There’s a hot new trend for unique outdoor décor for those with deep enough pockets: "Trophy trees."
Companies are helping homeowners find the perfect timber for their yard. Landscapers keep a keen eye on the treeline, ready to offer homeowners a hefty chunk of money to uproot their hardwood.
“We go out and we locate trees, we look around in people's yards and all over the place, and when I find a tree that I really think is special, I go to the homeowners and I'll buy it from them, or try to buy it,” Walter Acree, owner of Green Integrity’s, told CTV News Channel on Thursday.
The company specializes in finding “large majestic trees of character,” from anywhere in the world and relocates them to the yards of Floridians. And south Florida is the perfect place for such a business, as the climate allows for a wide variety of tree species to grow and thrive. It allows the company to bring trees in from other countries.
“Being a melting pot, like we are, people bring them from other countries, and grow them here, and they can really be spectacular trees,” said Acree.
In one instance, Green Integrity’s brought in a tree that had been planted by missionaries in Tanzania in 1926.
“We ended up selling it for over [US]$200,000,” he said.
And with some northerners flocking to the south of Florida during the pandemic, business hasn’t slowed. Those who made their move permanent have been looking to spruce things up on their properties.
“We haven't stopped, we never slowed down, and we're seeing a lot of northerners come to Florida,” said Acree. “Whether you're buying these new homes, nothing makes it more livable. It looks like an old house when you put in an old tree, and especially one with character.”
While the trees have become a unique status symbol for the ultra-rich, Acree and his team plant them with the intent of making them look like they have always been part of the home.
“A lot of times we'll put the tree in to make it look like it had been there forever,” he said. “You know the trees give off a certain energy, and it's all about the tropical feel when you're standing there, you're living there. It just makes all the difference in the world.”
