The Bloordale Adopt-A-Street-Tree project focuses on the new
street trees planted along Bloor Street between Dufferin and Lansdowne -- 59 to
be exact! Local resident and Bloordale Community Improvement
Association member, Dan Milford-Warren, began stewardship
efforts in the area for the new trees in 2014. Dan also happens to be a LEAF
Tree Tender graduate and volunteer! His
commitment and enthusiasm have made this project possible!
Tree tour participants and tour leader, Erin MacDonald, investigating some trees!
In an earlier blog post, Dan explained just how important such efforts are because trees previously planted along Bloor Street in this area were short-lived due to limited soil and other urban stresses. Protecting and caring for trees that have already been planted is just as important as planting new ones!
The tour itself was lead by LEAF’s Volunteer and Stewardship Coordinator, Erin MacDonald, and those who attended on the sunny, summer evening learned facts about the urban forest and tips on how to decipher one tree species from another. Do you know the difference between a black locust and a honey locust tree? Are you able to distinguish between the two? During the tour, I learned how to do so!
A black locust on Margueretta Street.
In the weeks prior to the tree tour, some of LEAF’s wonderful staff and volunteers helped to spread the word about this event and the project through distribution of flyers and interaction with local businesses. Their hard work clearly paid off, as we had a great turnout for the event!
Flyers, window display signs and street tree tags!
The Adopt-a-Street-Tree program is a joint initiative of LEAF and the City of Toronto. Local partners include the Bloordale BIA and the Bloordale Community Improvement Association as well as local Councillor Anna Bailao. The project is currently being funded through a grant from Live Green Toronto, a program of the City of Toronto, and a Jack Kimmel grant of the Canadian TREE Fund. We are very grateful for all the hard work and support of our funders, partners and volunteers!
Dan Milford-Warren sharing some of his tree knowledge with the group!
By the end of the tour, we happily welcomed several new adopters too! All of the adopters and volunteers in the Bloordale community should be proud of themselves as they are helping to make the future of Bloor Street look a lot brighter -- or should I say shadier? We’re hoping that with their help our street trees will grow big and tall, providing us with a large tree canopy along Bloor Street.
One of our wonderful new adopters of a Bloor Street tree!
We are still looking for volunteers to help with this project! If you are interested in volunteering or adopting a street tree in the Bloordale community, please send us an email. You can contact Erin directly at erin[at]yourleaf.org for more information.
Emily Peden is LEAF’s Community Outreach Assistant.
Photos were taken by LEAF Volunteer, Lillian Natalizio