Viable no longer, Dunmore Road trees fall victim to chainsaw
It’s never a decision the city wants to make, but a group of trees on Dunmore Road had to come down recently because they were no longer deemed viable.
“It’s really not much of a story here,” said superintendent of parks maintenance Dave Genio. “We’ve been investigating that area on Dunmore Road for a while, and the trees just were deemed to be no longer viable.
“We’ve had some unexpected tree issues in that area, mostly due to the small area and the slope, and being able to keep water in that area as well as nutrients so they can continue to survive.”
Genio says the city removed one tree last year and three this year from the area around McDonald’s, and that the city is continuing to investigate what may have caused the problems.
“It’s something we’re looking into,” he said. “We’re not concerned that anyone went in and did anything, or anything like that.
“Sometimes this happens and the trees start to look like an eyesore. It’s up to us to make the decision to take them down.”
Genio says the trees that are still standing will continue to be monitored closely, but will continue to remain standing for now.
“We’re going to keep looking at them and see if they get better or worse,” he said. “It’s never our desired choice to take trees down, but sometimes it’s just the choice we have to make — it’s a last resort.
“In this case, we were unable to bring them back, and had to take them down. We won’t consider planting more there until we’re 100 per cent certain as to why those trees had to come down.”