Star: City hopes to plant 7 million trees

[ShonTron]

There's so much wasted lands in Parclos - I'd love to see this too, and have been thinking about this for a while as well. I would also like to see large parking lots mandated to include greenery - there's a lot of wasted and empty space in many lots, like Yorkdale, Scarborough TC, etc.

 

[afransen]

Is there a reason why the city couldn't turn downsview into a giant tree farm? Plant thousands of new saplings each year and relocate some from previous years throughout the city either replacing dead trees or increasing the number of trees. I don't really think downsview park is ever going to become the park we were promised but I figure that if you plant x new saplings each year but relocate x-y trees, eventually downsview will be fully treed.

There are nurseries that grow trees and they're much better at it than the City could hope to be. The city should just buy trees and use Downsview for something more appropriate.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

What could be more appropriate for greenspace than growing trees? In any event, the city already has its own nurseries, doesn't it?

 

[maestro]

Without placing an island in the middle of streets with trees I wonder where they expect to get all the space to put these trees? What percentage of the city land is already covered with buildings? I would think the greater the amount of space occupied by buildings, the tougher it would be to increase tree canopy barring tree filled green rooftops

First - I doubt the city's overall FAR is anywhere near 1
Second - over 30% of the city is covered by asphalt/concrete - why not start there

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

towers in the park should be towers in the forest.

and..

there are fields of grass all over the city that are useless, nobody uses them for sports, etc. the city wastes soo much effort cutting the grass in these fields, why not turn them into forest? i'm talking about real forest and not just trees in grass. leave them be natural because you don't have to maintain forests. they don't require maintenence because they are not in trafficked aeras.

 

[3Dementia]

Call me demented, but why not spend the $350k at our local nurseries and start planting? Let's assume the initiative will help battle climate change (no doubt supported by many other city reports that can be cannabalized)... and look for places with... no trees.

 

[wyliepoon]

With all this tree planting, a few hundred years down the road Toronto might look like this...

 

[afransen]

Nurseries aren't really places where people want to be. If you haven't seen a nursery before, it looks a bit like a corn field, with rows of identical trees, shrubs, etc., all planted about a foot or two apart. It's nothing like a park or a forest. You can't let the trees grow to maturity, either, as they are planted far too close together. Thirdly, the land has too much potential to waste it on growing juvenile trees for translanting. It's like saying we should grow corn in Downsview Park... More appropriately done well outside the city.

 

[adma]

With all this tree planting, a few hundred years down the road Toronto might look like this...

Wow, the Whitney Block sure is resilient...

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

and if they're gonna plant trees, they better be of the native types of the area. it wouldn't be a bad idea to track down native trees in a specific area & breed other trees from them to plant in the same area. it's kinda what happens in nature, the nut doesn't fall too far from the tree and grows within the same spot. yes, i know.

 

[interchange42]

The City knows all about that native tree thing. They know which species are more resilient to salt too. Stuff like that. They have a few arborists in their employ. It should go okay.

42

 

[AndreaPalladio]

Nurseries aren't really places where people want to be. If you haven't seen a nursery before, it looks a bit like a corn field, with rows of identical trees, shrubs, etc., all planted about a foot or two apart. It's nothing like a park or a forest. You can't let the trees grow to maturity, either, as they are planted far too close together. Thirdly, the land has too much potential to waste it on growing juvenile trees for translanting. It's like saying we should grow corn in Downsview Park... More appropriately done well outside the city.

I think that's an excellent idea - some acreage for trees, some for corn - and edible corn (not the stuff that has to be processed for high fructose syrup). A few playing fields and passive areas where people can sit and read and throw a ball or frisbee around - voila! Easy, instant park.

 

[TrickyRicky]

Incidentally, before people get all down on the tree cover in Calgary keep in mind that the climate combination of arid and cold doesn't make for prime growing conditions. Add in shade and suddenly you have a gardener's nightmare.

 

[simply Dan]

I'd like to see trees planted wherever possible around interchanges. The grassed areas between ramps seem to go on forever in many cases, and while I know that trees can't be planted right up against roadways because of both salt and safety concerns, I'll bet that once environmental factors (such as water table) are taken into consideration, there would likely be a fair bit of space in many interchanges where more trees could be growing.

I've also thought about that... many European cities use their "dead" highway space better by planting more vegetation and trees in between traffic lanes and at interchanges.

 

[Edward Skira]

Best thing about the DVP in recent years is they have stopped cutting the grass in most locations along the highway. Areas that were grass ten years ago are now becoming forests. Maintenance costs have gone down and the look has gone way up.