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

[interchange42]

Yes, arborists are consulted, and the BIA has a responsibility to replace the trees that die. They have to replace any tree at their expense which does not make it to (IIRC) three years. After that, the City assumes responsibility for the trees. Obviously the BIA will not want the dead trees there longer than required. This is from the BIA's press release on March 27 of this year:

…we will be replacing 19 London Plane trees along Bloor Street, which have not survived the transplantation process. A full tree maintenance program will in place, in order to provide the trees with an optimum chance to flourish.

Since that was written in March, maybe the 19 identified were those that didn't even make it to the end of last year, and who knows, after this crazy winter, if that number has gone way up, the choice of species may have to be revisited: they won't want to spend money replanting these ever single year. Any tree species planted along Bloor will have to deal well with extra wind, more shade, and more salt than that same species growing in ideal conditions here: it's tough for these living things to become established in our concrete canyons. Last winter's unpredictably severe weather may have just been too much.

Finally, it was believed by we UT types that the tree pits along Bloor would be irrigated, but the plan to do that was cut from the budget. The reason the trees all had bags around their bases for the past two years was so that they would have a source of water, slowly dripping into the ground. The BIA was paying to keep those bags of water filled, and it looks like that will continue.

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[condovo]

^ And what of the 95% of uplights that are burnt out, the cracked and sunken pieces of granite and the mineral-stained caulking?! Bay Adelaide Centre re-caulks their granite sidewalks and Arnell Plaza *every year*.

 

[Northern Magus]

Bay Adelaide Centre re-cocks their granite sidewalks and Arnell Plaza *every year*.

 

[vatche]

It's official!!! Agent provocateur is opening a first Canadian flagship store at the collonade at 131 bloor street.

 

[Wrenkin]

It's official!!! Agent provocateur is opening a first Canadian flagship store at the collonade at 131 bloor street.

There used to be a standalone store in Vancouver.

 

[vatche]

The one in Vancouver was run by an agent, who apparently did not have good retail experience. According to retail insider.

 

[TOfan696]

Went to Bloor street first time this year, couldn't get over the fact that all the trees were either dead or very sparse - looked awful! Has anyone gotten an update from the BIA on replacing the Trees? Honestly, I think they should admit defeat over the London Planes and select a tree species that have proven track record of taking root in Toronto.

 

[jje1000]

Not including an irrigation system seems to be the factors in the failures.

Anyways, I think they should go with Black Locusts. Decent looking tree, non-invasive, and seemingly indestructible.

 

[TOfan696]

Not including an irrigation system seems to be the factors in the failures.

Anyways, I think they should go with Black Locusts. Decent looking tree, non-invasive, and seemingly indestructible.

I agree, its clear they don't have the right environment and maintenance to sustain the trees they planted, Black Locusts would fill in nicely and do very well in Toronto.

 

[Northern Light]

I agree, its clear they don't have the right environment and maintenance to sustain the trees they planted, Black Locusts would fill in nicely and do very well in Toronto.

Absolutely Not!

Honey Locusts maybe...............Black Locusts are non-native and highly invasive and the City spends money trying to control and remove them every year!

However, no ONE species should be selected. It breaks all the rules and common sense; see Ash Trees and Emerald Ash Borer; or Birch Trees and Birch Borer or Elm Trees and Dutch Elm Disease.

You really want a variety of species so that if a disease/pest/drought strikes you don't lose 100% of your trees (ideally not 50% either)

I get that they wanted the uniformity of trees for aesthetic reasons.........that's landscape architects often make me cringe........nothing wrong w/good looking; but have to understand more about plants that shape and colours that look nice together.

Personally. I would choose one kinda of tree per trench planter, A different type in the one-tree pits; and rotate the 2 species chose every block or so; using about six - eight different species.

Logical choices would be:

Silver Maple (acer freeman cultivar - red leaves in the falll) gorgeous, essentially native, very urban tolerant.
Honey Locust ( native, let's lots of light (good for growing flowers underneath), very urban tolerant
Red Oak (native, more urban-tolerant than given credit for,doing wonderfully on St. George Street)
Bur Oak (native, very tolerant)
American/White Elm (native, dutch-elm resistant varieties available, salt tolerant!! )
Ironwood (native, shade tolerant)
Basswood (native, shade tolerant)

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

NL:

Thanks for the informative discussion - didn't you mentioned a long, long time ago that there were a whole bunch of issues with the horticultural aspects of this project?

AoD

 

[TrickyRicky]

See street tree plantings currently going on in Bloorcourt (West of Christie Pits) and along the East Danforth. Alternating tree plantings of Silver Maple, Elm, and Purple Robe Black Locust.

 

[greenleaf]

From Jack Lakey, Toronto Star article 28 June 2014:

"Urban forestry manager Dean Hart said the warranty period for the trees is up, which means the city is on the hook for the replacement cost. Hart said they don’t know why so many died, but the long, cruel winter may have been a factor, since a lot more salt was used on sidewalks to keep them clear of ice. New trees will be planted this fall or next spring, he added."

 

[gabe]

Went to Bloor street first time this year, couldn't get over the fact that all the trees were either dead or very sparse - looked awful! Has anyone gotten an update from the BIA on replacing the Trees? Honestly, I think they should admit defeat over the London Planes and select a tree species that have proven track record of taking root in Toronto.

It's down right embarrassing.

Here are some pics i took a few weeks ago. I too was surprised how bad the trees looked.

Around the base of the trees was garbage and weeds, and those rusty steel grates look like they came from a scrap yard.

 

[Roy G Biv]

My guess is that it was the long winter's effect on youngish trees. Hell, all my boxwood died after this winter.