Protecting Toronto downtown from the hardships of urban life

John Lorine

2017-03-25

Globe and Mail

Keywords: Tree Guards, Corten Steel, Business Improvement Areas (BIAs), Street Trees, Bicycle Locks, Soil Compaction,Tree Protection

While urban forestry officials, tasked with maintaining about 15,000 street trees, have been searching for affordably sustainable solutions for years, a handful of downtown business improvement areas (BIAs) have discovered a low-tech – and inadvertently unappealing – way of protecting them from the rough-and-tumble world of sidewalk traffic, and especially bark contusions caused by bike locks.

The article highlights the challenges faced by street trees in Toronto due to urban life, including compacted roots, dehydration, and damage from bicycle locks. To protect these trees, downtown business improvement areas (BIAs) have installed tree guards and grates made of Corten steel, which rusts to form a protective seal. The Bloordale and Bloorcourt BIAs have contributed $835,000 towards installing 160 tree guards along Bloor West, with similar projects on other streets. The city has also replaced dead trees along the Mink Mile with disease-resistant species, addressing previous soil issues. Despite some aesthetic concerns, the overall effort aims to improve the survival rate of downtown trees and enhance the urban environment.

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Tags: Urban Forestry, Tree Conservation, Public Safety, Urban Development, Tree Health, Community Involvement