Tree replacement takes some time

By Gillian Slade on October 20, 2017.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com  @MHNGillianSlade

The city is still working on replacing all the trees that had to be removed to build berms.

Replacing three trees for every one removed was not part of the budget for the berms, making it necessary to spread the replacement trees out as budgets allow, said parks manager Randy Taves.

A tree five- or six-feet high with a trunk that measures about two inches in diameter can cost $250 for the tree and planting, said Taves. Correct planting is crucial to ensure its longevity. It must be planted at the correct depth or the ball-root will either dry out or rot.

Saplings, about 30 cm tall, are much less expensive and are easier to plant.

In Harlow, about 350 trees had to be removed, according to a story in the News in Oct. 2014.

So far 200 saplings were given to Harlow residents to plant in an area flagged by the city, said Taves. How many of them are still growing is not known. There was no budget to ensure they were watered and saplings only have a survival success rate of about 10 per cent.

In Lions Park and Strathcona Island Park about 1,000 trees were removed. Initially, 2,300 saplings were planted in the same area. It is not known how many survived but it is known that some were inadvertently removed by machinery, said Taves. Another 100 trees with a trunk about 2 inches in diameter were planted in 2016, said Taves. The plan is for this to continue for another three years for a total of about 500 trees, as budgets allow.

The commitment to plant three trees for every one removed is a city policy, and there is no time frame in which to accomplish that, said Taves.

“What’s real and what is reasonable,” Taves explained.

Replacement trees are not meant to immediately replace the much older trees anyway, said Taves. The idea is to have new trees begin to provide the canopy of the old in about 20 or 30 years.

The parks and recreation department does not track trees that are removed and when and how they are replaced.

Replacement trees are also not always planted in the area where they were removed. They can be planted anywhere there is a need for trees, said Taves.

The city’s parks spends about $1.4 million every year on trees, shrubs, greenhouse operations/flowers, and pest/weed control.

Maintaining and growing the tree inventory is very important, said Taves.

“The city, through the Tree Preservation Bylaw (November 2014), supports and protects public trees from damage, disease or unnecessary removal,” said Taves.

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