Toronto Bloor Street Revitalization | ?m | ?s | Bloor-Yorkville BIA | architectsAlliance

condovo said:
Not only are the trees dead, the sidewalks themselves are crumbling. Thats what I saw today. A total failure.
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LOL Crumbling? Can you snap a pic at every stone that is cracked the next time you happen to be there? Because I walk on Bloor often and I can't see those "crumbling sidewalks". This is not the first time you made this claim, and with all due respect I call BS.

There maybe a stone cracked here and there, but that's it, no way the sidewalks are "crumbling", no way this is a total failure.

This forum is full of drama, I swear.
 
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dt_toronto_geek said:
Are we sure the London Planes are all dead? I haven't been along here lately but some trees only began to bud a week & a half ago, and some trees only started getting leaves this past week. Could they be behind in budding? Also, am I on drugs or did I not see those silica cells or whatever they're called put into the ground for each of these trees?
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London Planes bud later than many other trees. We have one in our front yard, and we really only got visible buds this past weekend. It's the same every year.
 
Skeezix said:
London Planes bud later than many other trees. We have one in our front yard, and we really only got visible buds this past weekend. It's the same every year.
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Really? My American Sycamore starts late too, but it is almost fully leafed out today. This is about a mile from Bay and Bloor.

Would sycamores do better than London Planes in that site, Northern Light? Seems like a good compromise if so. Most of us would never know the difference.
 
Northern Light said:
I would strongly suggest, honey locust for the big round circles in flush w/the sidewalk and Red and White Oak for most of the beds; perhaps going
w/Silver Maple in the Yonge - Bay block.

There are other legit choices; the keys are native, urban tolerant and some variety, just in case a mistake is made.

Also, it matters where the genetic stock of the tree is from; ie. A red oak seeded from a tree in North Carolina (southern limit of their range) is likely
attuned better to those climate/light level conditions. A red oak from seed from a successful southern Ontario tree will likely perform better.
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Those seem like rather massive choices for this location, no? The tree canopies would be huge and would block out a lot of sun, not to mention Honey Locusts have tiny leaves that create a big mess when they drop in the fall. I think something more compact/containable might be better for here like English Oak?

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Also, there really shouldn't be an issue having just one species. This creates a nice, more formal effect which seems appropriate for this stretch of Bloor. They just have to choose the right tree and give it a fighting chance. This isn't rocket science, it's not like we're trying to plant rhododendrons in the desert.
 

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condovo said:
Terrible start. Where's the money to finish, or even maintain?
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Huh? The city is in a world of hurt if the members of this particular BIA can't raise the funds to repair and maintain the street. I've seen BIA in areas with property values a percentage of Bloor Yorkville accomplish more.
 
I am wondering if they are reconsidering their choice to tree species along Queens Quay after what happens on Bloor St. I believe London Planes were also planned for QQ.
 
I'm not sure about the London Planes but the Locust trees planted on Bloor street in the Bloorcourt and Bloordale areas further west have not budded yet. Some of the other species of trees planted last year have fully budded and have small leaves. My suspicion is that the growing conditions are much better with more light and less wind in these other stretches of Bloor Street. I think the combination of micro-climates, built form, and orientation make any street trees difficult to grow on the Bloor-Yorkville stretch, plus the bad choice of London Planes
 
TrickyRicky said:
I'm not sure about the London Planes but the Locust trees planted on Bloor street in the Bloorcourt and Bloordale areas further west have not budded yet. Some of the other species of trees planted last year have fully budded and have small leaves. My suspicion is that the growing conditions are much better with more light and less wind in these other stretches of Bloor Street. I think the combination of micro-climates, built form, and orientation make any street trees difficult to grow on the Bloor-Yorkville stretch, plus the bad choice of London Planes
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Honey Locust is actually a pretty nasty street tree. Most of the ones planted along College street are small, gnarly, and ugly. I get the impression they were planted back in the 80s and they just never grew, but never died either.
 
For some reason, Toronto has a lot of ugly, nasty, half-dead looking trees. I see lots of trees in this city that need to be replaced.
 
TrickyRicky said:
I'm not sure about the London Planes but the Locust trees planted on Bloor street in the Bloorcourt and Bloordale areas further west have not budded yet. Some of the other species of trees planted last year have fully budded and have small leaves. My suspicion is that the growing conditions are much better with more light and less wind in these other stretches of Bloor Street. I think the combination of micro-climates, built form, and orientation make any street trees difficult to grow on the Bloor-Yorkville stretch, plus the bad choice of London Planes
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The honey locust trees in front of my building always come into leaf late, never before May. They are just leafing out now.
 
k10ery said:
Really? My American Sycamore starts late too, but it is almost fully leafed out today. This is about a mile from Bay and Bloor.

Would sycamores do better than London Planes in that site, Northern Light? Seems like a good compromise if so. Most of us would never know the difference.
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Difficult to say. I'm only aware of one having been used as a street tree in the entire City, though that's not to say there aren't more.

This is the very northern limit of the range for American Sycamore; you wouldn't find any naturally beyond the Carolinian Zone (roughly speaking up to just north of Hwy 7).

Sycamores and London Planes (where are close relatives) share the same disease susceptibilities but LPs are more resistant to the fungus that tends to make them look a bit ragged.

It wouldn't be my first choice.

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I stand by my earlier choices (Honey Locust for the round flush pits and Red Oak, and Swamp White Oak for the bed/trench planters).

Aside from Dutch-Elm disease resistant Elms, I wouldn't mind seeing them try Ironwood.


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Someone asked about English Oak..... not native, but it can do well here, I'd prefer the natural form ones to the columnar look.....

Non-invasive.
 
Tewder said:
Those seem like rather massive choices for this location, no? The tree canopies would be huge and would block out a lot of sun, not to mention Honey Locusts have tiny leaves that create a big mess when they drop in the fall. I think something more compact/containable might be better for here like English Oak?

Also, there really shouldn't be an issue having just one species. This creates a nice, more formal effect which seems appropriate for this stretch of Bloor. They just have to choose the right tree and give it a fighting chance. This isn't rocket science, it's not like we're trying to plant rhododendrons in the desert.
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One species is a problem for the simple reason of disease susceptibility. Toronto once lost almost all its Elms to Dutch Elm disease, and is now facing the same with its Ash trees.

Its a bad idea to plant all the same tree for over one km, because if any disease/pest to which the trees are vulnerable strikes, you lose them all.

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As for Honey Locust, you exaggerate the mess relative to other trees. They are extremely urban tolerant, which is why they are the favourite for mall parking lots.

There are other choices, which I noted, but I think that's probably the best one for the flush pits.
 
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