By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

When Anne Moldauer began thinking about moving out of the Naperville house where she lived for 50 years, she imagined one of the things she’d have the hardest time parting with was actually in the yard—a collection of 30 exotic trees.

Moldauer now lives at Monarch Landing—and when she moved, the trees came with her. Twelve of the rare trees were dug up by hand, wrapped carefully in burlap, and integrated into Monarch Landing’s landscaping. Of course, several of the trees are planted just outside Moldauer’s apartment home, within view from her windows and just a few steps from her patio.

“It was nice that they moved them here,” Moldauer says. “I don’t know what I would have done without them.”

‘A unique request’

Geoff Roehll of Hitchcock Design Group, the company that landscaped Monarch Landing’s campus, says Moldauer had trees in her yard “that you don’t typically see around here.” He calls the transplant of the trees “a unique request”—one that his company and Monarch Landing made happen.

“Since many of them were planted in the last five years, she saw n opportunity,” Roehll says. “Most people don’t think it’s possible to take elements of their landscaping with them when they move.”

One of many hobbies

Monarch Landing staff members make every effort to ensure that residents feel right at home when they move to the community. Coordinating with Hitchcock Design Group to transplant Moldauer’s trees is just one example of the many ways that the Erickson lifestyle is individually tailored to meet each individual’s unique needs and preferences.

Several years ago Moldauer began researching and planting rare trees, including a red Japanese maple, ginkgo, blue beech, scholar tree, golden rain tree, and ironwood.

“I had a big backyard, and I wanted something to do after I started working part-time,” Moldauer says.