Asphalt around tree work of a knucklehead
If soil and roots are covered with concrete or pavement, it creates hostile environment
Sometimes you have to wonder what people were thinking when they do things that are as dumb as a stump. And when the area around a healthy street tree is packed with asphalt — preventing moisture and oxygen from reaching its roots — it can only be the work of a knucklehead.
It’s a bit of a trick to get a tree planted in a sidewalk to grow tall and strong.
The soil from which trees draw sustenance is highly compacted and covered with concrete and pavement, an unnatural and hostile environment.
The most practical and least costly solution is to create an open space around the base of the tree, filled with light soil and porous material that allows air and water to reach at least some of the roots.
But when the tree pit, as they’re known, is sealed off with asphalt, it’s only a matter of time before the tree is dead.
We got an email from Sharyn Roboz about the removal of decorative brick from the boulevard along the south side of Spring Garden Ave., east of Yonge St.
Sections of brick were removed when Toronto Hydro began replacing utility poles in 2016, she said, adding that the holes from where the bricks were taken were a tripping hazard.
We went there and found that the loose bricks were gone, and that dozens of small holes that were a tripping hazard had just been filled with asphalt, in one of the shoddier patching jobs we’ve seen.
About a dozen trees are planted in pits along the boulevard, but someone decided to pack asphalt around the base of one, while thankfully leaving the rest alone.
Shouldn’t people who work with hot asphalt know that it can’t be good for a tree?
Status: We started with Toronto Hydro, but the utility said that while it filled the area around the base of the newly installed poles with as- phalt, it had nothing to do with patching holes where bricks were removed. So we reported it to transportation services and got an email from spokesperson Cheryl San Juan that included a photo showing the asphalt had been just removed. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Send an email to jlakey@thestar.ca. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.