The Toronto Tree Tours is a collaborative project of LEAF and the Toronto Public Space Committee that offers walking tours in neighbourhoods across the city as well as virtual tours on its web site. The aim is to introduce Torontonians to the individual trees in their neighbourhood while telling stories of our city’s ecological and cultural history.
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Street trees suffer many more environmental stresses than trees growing in a forest. This honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is planted in a bed of concrete, an unnatural condition for any tree. The soil that its roots are growing in is compacted by the weight of the sidewalk and continuous pedestrian traffic. In response, this tree has produced a “root sucker†that has found its way underneath the sidewalk and emerged in a more hospitable location in the fenced garden bed.
This enlarged bed provides more soil space for plants to grow in and is a good example of how we should be planting along pedestrian pathways. To reduce the stress that this tree is under, the city should remove the surrounding concrete blocks and add composted wood mulch to help retain moisture and return much needed organic matter and nutrients to the soil.
Visit the Toronto Tree Tours website to read more stories from the Parkdale Tree Tour.
Upcoming tours:
Downsview Tree Tour with Lost Rivers
WHEN: July 20, 2008
TIME: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
MEET AT: Southeast corner of Sheppard Ave. and Keele St. (Google Map)
WHEN: June 21, 2008
TIME: 10:30 am – 1:30 pm
MEET AT: Pearce House, 1749 Meadowvale Rd. (Google Map)
Please RSVP if you would like to attend. Suggested donation: $5
photo by Liz Forsberg
3 comments
The Queensway rebuild between Mimico Creek and Islington will be using Silva Cells for the trees. A Silva Cell is a plastic open frame that is installed under street or sidewalk. It supports foot or vehicular traffic on a water-permeable paving block above it, and maintains within its volume un-compacted soil for expansion of tree roots and absorption of storm water.
Check out http://www.deeproot.com/silva_docs/applications.pdf for more information.
When it has a chance, nature finds a way – thanks for the picture – very neat.
Pleased to see a new post in this series! I will be joining the Rouge Park tour during my first trip to Toronto.