yyzhyd said:
Wasn't the failure on Bloor attributed to a pure homogenous selection of London Plane trees?
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Yes, that was likely the issue. London Planes are barely suitable to our climate. If you put them in a difficult location, many will probably die.
 
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but it's on Queens Quay. Looks like there's some re-cladding work going on.

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This was still the right place to post that photo, because it's a great shot of the work on Queen's Quay too!
 
Markster said:
This was still the right place to post that photo, because it's a great shot of the work on Queen's Quay too!
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My thoughts exactly! haha

Man, that pic makes it look like concrete city. I wish WT had pushed more to get grass on the ROW, or even some of that turf that is used at Harbourfront Centre. (I'd even settle for some coloured concrete!)
 
It will look a lot better when the trees are leafed out an more mature, especially on the south side where there will be a row of trees on each side of the MG trail. The area is certainly crying out for more green though.

ETA: I know some people will disagree, but that artificial turf at harbourfront looks terrible. It looked OK when it was first installed, but now looks like matted down green shag. I'd put it on the same aesthetically displeasing level as carpet in the bathroom.
 
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junctionist said:
Yes, that was likely the issue. London Planes are barely suitable to our climate. If you put them in a difficult location, many will probably die.
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I think London Planes are quite suitable. I’m fairly certain there's a simpler reason for the failure and death of all those trees: that they were planted during the hottest and driest time (late summer) of an exceptionally hot and dry year. A tree would need a lot of regular waterings to establish itself after planting. I believe these weren’t given any. I often see the same thing happen when sod is laid in July or August. If it’s poorly watered or not watered at all, within a few days this expensive and lush turf turns into scorched hay + dirt.
 
44 North said:
I think London Planes are quite suitable. I’m fairly certain there's a simpler reason for the failure and death of all those trees: that they were planted during the hottest and driest time (late summer) of an exceptionally hot and dry year. A tree would need a lot of regular waterings to establish itself after planting. I believe these weren’t given any. I often see the same thing happen when sod is laid in July or August. If it’s poorly watered or not watered at all, within a few days this expensive and lush turf turns into scorched hay + dirt.
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They were watered regularly. They had watering bags and were also watered by truck. London Planes are on the margin of our climate zone. They might thrive or they might die, depending (among other things) on the harshness of summer heat and winter coldness in their early years. That's why I suspect we see relatively few around town. The hardiest survive; the rest die. It's not the best tree to plant for our climate.
 
Interesting. I’ve never seen a City truck water any street trees, and didn’t know such a thing existed. Nor do I know what a watering bag is. And here I thought I was correct with my guess that lack of watering by the City was the culprit.

Kinda surprising that they planted the 'wrong' tree. Millions of dollars and years of planning and constructing an improved Bloor...but somehow they screw up the trees? Talk about a blunder. A leafy canopy was the most important improvement (at least IMO). Not only that, it was possibly the most affordable improvement. Frankly, I’d prefer scrubby but fast-growing Manitoba Maple or Chinese Sumac over a spindly or dead tree any day of the week.

Re: the photo above, and someone’s comment about a "concrete city"...this is why I’d like to see more evergreens in TO. I don’t think they’d make good street trees, but on private property and whatnot a jack pine or white pine would be a nice change to a patch of asphalt or dirt. And their constant greenery would go a long way to improving our non-summer grey streetscape.
 
PinkLucy said:
I first saw watering bags last year. There were a lot of them around the waterfront area.
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The City has been using them for at least the last 2 years but, as far as I can tell, do not seem too good at actually filling them with water! (When the City has trees planted they normally use contractors and they have to guarantee the tree for at least a year so they do have some incentive to keep them alive.)
 
Perhaps it’s more cost-effective for contractors to buy and plant a new tree every year than to send out crews to water them? In that case, maybe lack of watering was in fact the reason all the London Planes died. The time where a new planting establishes itself is crucial. A few missed waterings or under-waterings by a spendthrift contractor, and it’s another summer of grey streetscape.
 
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