{"id":3421,"date":"2008-07-30T14:09:30","date_gmt":"2008-07-30T18:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/2008\/07\/30\/why-toronto%e2%80%99s-street-side-trees-are-dying-part-cxviii\/"},"modified":"2013-01-21T15:25:35","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T20:25:35","slug":"why-torontos-street-side-trees-are-dying-part-cxviii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2008\/07\/30\/why-torontos-street-side-trees-are-dying-part-cxviii\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Toronto’s street-side trees are dying, part CXVIII"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Five street trees in planter boxes at Yonge and Finch, August 2007<\/em><\/p>\n

Last summer I wrote a post about a sad patch of street trees<\/a> near the southwest corner of the Yonge and Finch intersection. I’m up in this area about three or four times a month to visit my mom who lives in a nearby condo and I continue to watch the health of these trees. In the spring of 2007, they were planted in raised planter boxes, which is one of the worst things you can do to a tree: it restricts the growth of roots and allows only a small surface area for the roots to absorb water. City of Toronto bylaws clearly state that all City-owned trees need to be planted in trenches (literally linking up root systems of nearby trees which allows water to spread more easily through this network below sidewalks), but this group seems to have defied those requirements. (I won’t rehash any more arguments from last year’s post, so maybe a take a minute to re-read it<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Last year was Toronto’s driest summer in 50 years<\/a>, while this summer is being hailed as the wettest<\/a> in recorded local history. For trees, last year was hell and this year is turning out to be heaven. But how are the trees doing that I highlighted last year? Check out the photo below.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Same street trees at Yonge and Finch, July 2008<\/em><\/p>\n

Sadly, the trees are in much worse condition. This is partially due to the fact that the success of a tree relies on the rainfall (and stored energy) from the previous summer. Tree 1 had leaves in 2007, none today; Trees 2 and 4 had a few leaves near the bottom of their canopy, but none today; Tree 3 had no leaves in 2007, and has already been cut down and removed from the planter box; Tree 5 had some leaves and is still holding on to a few today.<\/p>\n

This small example of dying street trees reinforces the well-known fact that City Council is willing to plant trees — a wonderful photo-op and newsletter feature for councillors, no doubt — but does not have the foresight to allocate a proper budget to maintain them. Urban forestry staff has continuously stated their frustration in not being able to properly look after trees. I find this situation infuriating and mind-boggling: almost all councillors, on both sides of the political spectrum, understand the value of trees to the local environment, yet they continuously under-budget maintenance of street trees and ignore the long-term affects of their penny-pinching ways.<\/p>\n

This wet summer is only masking the problems the City is facing when it comes to its tree canopy. There has been a large drop in the tree canopy in the last decade from 30% coverage to 20%, according to the City’s inventory. And years of not planting trees over the previous decades has left us vulnerable to a large swath of trees dying in a short period of time (through disease or old age).<\/p>\n

Over the last seven or eight years, the signs of Toronto’s parks have contained a slogan: “A City Within A Park”. I’m not sure City Council understands the irony of promoting one of their worst oversights.<\/p>\n

photos by Matthew Blackett\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five street trees in planter boxes at Yonge and Finch, August 2007 Last summer I wrote a post about a sad patch of street trees near the southwest corner of the Yonge and Finch intersection. 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