For trees, quality, not quantity, counts

Re Want a healthier, more just city? Plant trees, July 28 If trees are good, and more trees are better, we should plant more trees, right? Problem is, Toronto is planting 90,000 trees per year, but the money is poorly spent — trees are planted to meet a quota and we are planting them in the wrong places, not where they will create the benefits the authors predict.

The city is planting many trees in parks so that sunny, wide-open spaces become filled up with random trees, so that there is nothing but shade. Turning parks into forests is not the solution.

The city is also planting trees on major arterial roads. We have the concrete planters where trees die after a few years. And on Leslie St. north of Lawrence, trees have been planted along the east side directly under hydro wires, meaning that in future they will have to be butchered so as not to interfere with the wires and cause blackouts in storms.

Some trees are planted in a very narrow strip between the sidewalk and the curb where salt and snow get stacked from plowing. The trunks eventually get very thick and cause a hazard to cars, and roots will no doubt break up the sidewalks over time.

Meanwhile, older residential streets that were once lined with trees are bare because once the trees reach the end of their natural life they are not replaced; it is quicker, cheaper and easier for city staff to plant trees in parks and along arterial roads.

It is easier to demolish a heritage building than cut down a tree in this city. Trees are important, but it is a matter of quality of the trees and where they are placed rather than mere quality of trees.

The risk is that we might end up compounding the mistakes we have been making, rather than planting or protecting trees with an eye to the long term. Don Bunsen, Toronto The last line in this article reads: “And it is good for squirrels too.” Well I love trees, and watching cute little squirrels running around is rather fun.

However, recently my car wouldn’t start after sitting unused in the driveway for just three days. After towing it to the dealership we discovered that most of the wiring was chewed up; there was a huge grass nest inside the engine where a squirrel had delivered three babies.

It was in for repairs for five days as new wiring had to be brought in and the cost was just under $2,000. The only good luck to this was if it had started up and I drove it away, the engine would have caught on fire because of all the dried grass. Also the brake lines were faulty.

So, just a word of warning. Those cute critters don’t always make nests in trees. Sandy Wilkie, Etobicoke