A long time ago, say, forty or fifty years ago, someone had the idea of planting maple trees up both sides of our street. It is a lovely thing, to be welcomed with a parade of trees every day, no matter the season. It’s part of the reason we wanted to live here. The sad news is, that many of the trees have been falling victim to various diseases. The large maple on our front lawn has been in a gradual state of decline for a number of years and it has finally succumbed. All of the other trees around us are full of life, bright and green, yet ours never really left a state of winter.
Mark has already contacted City of Ottawa’s Forestry Services to let them know that someone needs to take a look at it. We’re waiting for the call.
According to the City’s website, the City’s policy is to maintain a 30 per cent tree cover across the city. Currently in urban areas of the city, there is only 17 per cent tree cover. This doesn’t really surprise me. Developers don’t seem to have a respect for trees. I believe that we need to make a greater effort to get new trees into our urban landscape and protect old ones. They cool down our homes and our city, they clean our air, and prevent soil from eroding. Bring on the trees!
I’ve been poking around the website to find what kind of tree they might bring in as a replacement for our old Maple but I have come up dry. What kind of choice do we have, anyone know? I have a sneaking suspicion that we might have to buy our own. I would love to be able to plant a magnificent magnolia or a fragrant crabapple of some sort (I love them so much in the springtime) or perhaps a birch or a ginko. Whatever we end up with, and as sad as I am about losing our Maple, I do feel good about contributing to our avenue of trees. Everyone should be able to live on a street lined with trees.