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

Have you seen the parkette SW corner of Charles & Bay? They planted a diverse range of trees there. In fact its quite educational since they are labelled.

I wonder whether on Bloor they will plant a similar range of trees or try to be more uniform?
 
They are all London Plane trees
 
South side of Bloor outside the Colonnade

bloortrees.jpg
 
Fantastic, the trees are going in. Landscaping should follow by next week!
 
Those trees look decent!!! How long do these type of trees take to "get comfortable" and fill out?


On the other point....The SUN is along the same lines as FOX news. (...funny that their parent company I think is the one pushing to bring in FOX news to Canada.) Anyway, they don't really report news, they report tabloid garbage and their own somewhat extreme view. If we should ban anything here we should ban their fake news on this site.
 
Who designed those tiny benches on Bloor? I think they are terrible. They remind of little caskets. They look so uncomfortable to sit on. They do nothing to help beautify the street. I much prefer the seating built into the planters on Dundas. It's a much better solution.
 
mckarisma said:
Those trees look decent!!! How long do these type of trees take to "get comfortable" and fill out?
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London Planes.....are very columnar, one reason they were chosen, another is tolerance of urban conditions.

So they won't 'fill-out' as such, that much.

They will get taller, and a bit thicker, but they tend towards a fairly tight branch structure, very vertical trees...not big spreaders.

Honestly, they should look quite good, but I'm a little saddened they chose a non-native tree.

There are a variety of native choices that would have been excellent, but landscape architects aren't the most thoughtful people, LOL

Given the superior Planting conditions......I would have considered Bur Oaks, Silver Maples, White Birches, and probably White Spruce.

All native, year-round beauty, built-in Christmas trees, and fairly pollution tolerant, with the exception of the Birches, which I picked mainly for the pretty bark. If you skip over those, some Trembling Aspens would have been a fine choice.

Just saying...

Still, a huge improvement!
 
Torontovibe said:
Who designed those tiny benches on Bloor? I think they are terrible. They remind of little caskets. They look so uncomfortable to sit on.
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I like the granite benches. They're not terribly inviting nor comfortable, but I think that's the point plus they are maintenance free. Stop, rest for a few, chow down and then continue on.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
I like the granite benches. They're not terribly inviting nor comfortable, but I think that's the point plus they are maintenance free. Stop, rest for a few, chow down and then continue on.
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+1

I like how they feel like an extention of the sidewalk ... well I guess because they are :)
 
Northern Light said:
There are a variety of native choices that would have been excellent, but landscape architects aren't the most thoughtful people, LOL

Given the superior Planting conditions......I would have considered Bur Oaks, Silver Maples, White Birches, and probably White Spruce.

All native, year-round beauty, built-in Christmas trees, and fairly pollution tolerant, with the exception of the Birches, which I picked mainly for the pretty bark. If you skip over those, some Trembling Aspens would have been a fine choice.
Click to expand...

NL, I wonder to what degree the specifics of the site determined the tree? I agree with you that it is always a great idea to go with native plantings but the Bloor Street environment may in fact not be 'native' enough for these plantings in terms of the traffic/pollution, concrete, salt in winter and so on...

Also, you're idea about the pine trees is interesting but for some reason they don't seem to be used that much in an urban setting and I wonder why? Maybe it is the leaf canopy of deciduous trees that is welcomed in the summer for shade and temperature control? Maybe it is the denseness of pine trees that creates visual barriers? Regardless, Toronto is actually at the northern reach of the carolinian zone which is marked by deciduous trees, not pines. In a Canadian context this makes our region fairly unique so maybe pines are more suited for more northern cities?? Just some thoughts.
 
Tewder, coniferous trees are generally not used in urban settings due to safety concerns. The main concern is that the lower, denser branches create areas where people can hide behind and jump out at someone unexpectedly, ie. the visual barrier you mentioned, whereas with deciduous trees it's next to impossible to hide behind a 25 cm tree trunk. They also take up more space where people are walking. That being said, coniferous trees are stil used in urban settings, just not along sidewalks or pedestrian routes.
 
marcus_a_j said:
Tewder, coniferous trees are generally not used in urban settings due to safety concerns. The main concern is that the lower, denser branches create areas where people can hide behind and jump out at someone unexpectedly, ie. the visual barrier you mentioned, whereas with deciduous trees it's next to impossible to hide behind a 25 cm tree trunk. They also take up more space where people are walking. That being said, coniferous trees are stil used in urban settings, just not along sidewalks or pedestrian routes.
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Harry Stinson could hide behind an infant tree.
 
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