- Photo: © Torie Gervais
On one of the busiest corners in Canada, the feeble condition of these three green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) is heart-wrenching, but not surprising. Life alone on the street takes its toll on a tree. Inundated with road salt and loaded with snow in the winter, extreme heat and drought in the dead of summer, and vandalism compound the effect of the most devastating culprit – a significant lack of soil volume. Trees with a canopy 18 feet across require a soil volume of at least 10 cubic metres. These trees are presently growing in a soil volume of 2.4 cubic metres and the effects are evident. Their canopies are sparse and narrow, their branches are dying back from the tips and, to make matter worse, vandals have ripped off limbs and scraped bark from the trunks. In this compromised state, these trees would easily succumb to the newly introduced deadly emerald ash borer.
The solution is to provide street trees with a greater soil volume using raised continuous beds. Although this sidewalk is too narrow to support this potential redesign, the other side of the street could easily support such a positive proposal. Compare these trees to those at the next stop that have had a helping hand from local business people.
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Funding for the program is generously provided by:
