Harbord Village Tree Management Plan

Above photos: (L) Julie Keller & group (R) Professor Andy Kenney pointing

During the long hot summer of 2007, over 40 neighbourhood volunteers conducted a tree inventory to find out what trees we had and what state they were in. They began with three sessions of "Neighbourwoods" training from Professor Andy Kenney of the University of Toronto Faculty of Forestry.

Then, with the cheerful help of Julie Keller, a Masters student in Forest Conservation, they set out in pairs to observe, analyse and record details about local trees. By the end of August they had analysed over 2000 trees in 13 blocks of Harbord Village, over 40% of the neighbourhood. Julie's initial report is available at the links below. It includes strong recommendations for a management plan.

1. Urban Forest Management Plan for Harbord Village (included in the 2007 Inventory Report)
   Read the report here.

   Pages 3-13 sum up the current state of the trees inventoried so far. Here are some facts:

   • 51% are either Norway maple, tree of heaven, silver maple, or Manitoba maple.

   • 41% are native species, 59% non-native species

   • 13% (268 trees) are in poor or very poor condition, more of them in back yards than front yards

   The report offers recommendations for managing our urban forest:

• Pruning should be done on a cyclical plan, if necessary by hiring an arborist.

• Planting is needed to replace dead or dying trees and increase species diversity (see p. 43 on positioning new trees).

• Heritage Trees (large, old and rare trees) should be identified and given special care.

• Both local education and political lobbying are needed to raise awareness of the need for tree care.

Throughout her report, Julie recommends that HVRA take stewardship over its own trees:

• We should look after watering and care of street trees (Adopt-a-Tree).

• We should "liberate" street trees from their concrete collars to give them necessary space and access to moisture.

• We should ensure that trees in poor condition are inspected by an arborist and given the care they need.

2. Appendices give further details for followup of the management plan using the 2007 data:

• Appendices 2 and 3 list native and non-native trees suitable for city planting.

• Appendix 5 lists trees in poor or very poor condition that should be inspected by an arborist.

• Appendix 9 lists heritage trees.

The following informational material was used by volunteers and will be useful for others interested in the tree canopy:

• City of Toronto leaflet (943 KB) showing shape and size of the trees it offers for front-yard planting (the most common city trees)

• The Neighbourwoods Reference Guide for analysing tree condition (developed by Andy Kenney)

City laws and regulations about tree ownership:

• The city bylaws about ownership and care of trees

• Regulations for hiring arborists to take care of your front-yard trees