Park’s dead grass blamed on canine visitors
It’s a doggone shame what’s happened to the grass at Berczy Park.
There aren’t many parks that are more of a monument to dogs than Berczy Park, on Wellington St., just east of Yonge St. It is defined by a fountain circled by fanciful statues of dogs shooting jets of water from their mouths.
An $8-million redesign of the tiny park, next to the Flatiron Building, was completed in 2017 by architect Claude Cormier, quoted in a newspaper article as saying he wanted it to bring everyone together. That includes a mingling of dog owners with park-goers drawn to the shady knolls, designed to invite people to sit on the lush grass under the trees and take their ease.
But in the year since it opened, most of the grass has turned a crispy brown or disappeared altogether.
Paralegal Harry Fine emailed to say he considers it a “fiasco,” noting that “all the grass is dead one year after it was installed.”
“It’s become a signature location for tourists, office workers, families, etc. But it’s disgusting and I haven’t been able to (get) specifics” from the city about why the grass has died, Fine said. “Perhaps it was the wrong sod. Perhaps drainage, particularly at the west end. The city doesn’t seem to be able to produce and maintain nice things,” he added, referencing our column about recently planted trees that have died on Queens Quay. We went there and saw much of the grass has disappeared, revealing large bare patches, while people clustered on the few areas where the grass is still growing. It had us wondering if they irrigating the sod.
Status: Peter White, manager of downtown parks, sent us a note saying the irrigation system works just fine, but dogs are the problem. “The new Berczy Park is extremely popular with both people and their dogs,” he said. “This has created serious problems with soil compaction that makes it very difficult for the turf to survive. As well, in some of the photos (that we sent to him), you can see the dead patches that have resulted from dog urine on the grass. Our resident turf expert has taken soil samples and sent them for testing to ensure that there are no additional issues with available nutrients, and he is putting together a fertility program. We will aerate and overseed the park to work on re-establishing the grass. Some areas may be barricaded temporarily.”
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