City tree planting struggles to catch up

Bryan Dewalt

By the time you read this article the City of Ottawa will have planted 18 new trees throughout Sandy Hill as part of its spring planting program. These are welcome additions to our neighbourhood urban forest. But as development, disease, and old age destroy more mature trees than are currently being planted, this forest is in danger.

The trees that shade our streets are public goods and essential “green infrastructure.” They benefit everyone in the community. According to the City of Ottawa’s Urban Forest Management Plan, trees reduce air pollution and noise, sequester carbon dioxide, and absorb stormwater runoff. Through shade and evaporative cooling, trees temper urban heating. And trees, particularly the native kind, promote biodiversity by providing food and shelter for wildlife. For humans, trees beautify our streets, cool our homes, and provide shaded, walkable sidewalks. Studies have shown they help reduce stress and improve mental health. Finally, unlike the crumbling grey infrastructure we are most familiar with, trees actually become more valuable as they age, rising higher and spreading their canopies wider.

The City of Ottawa is responsible for installing and maintaining this green infrastructure. Remember those 18 trees? They all are planted under various City programs intended to green public spaces. Action Sandy Hill, through its Environment Committee, is working hard to maximize the benefit of these programs to our neighbourhood streets and parks.

Later this year, in support of the City’s Streetscape Program, the ASH Environment Committee will conduct a block-by-block assessment of the tree coverage in front of residential properties in Sandy Hill, in order to identify blocks that the City should target for street plantings. If you would like to volunteer for this project, contact bdewalt.ash@gmail.com, or marilynonash@gmail.com.

ASH is also pushing for improvements to the City’s Trees in Trust program. Under this little-known initiative, the City will plant a tree in the public right-of-way in front of a residential property at no cost to the owner. But the City will not act unless the owner— whoever and wherever they might be— requests a tree. ASH, along with other community organizations is pushing the City to take more initiative with planting of trees in the public right-of-way, and City staff have indicated they are working on a more proactive program.

The City also needs to plant enough trees and select the right kind of tree. In the year after the devastating derecho storm of May 2022, just 251 street trees were planted under Trees in Trust across the entire city. Homeowners endure long wait times to get a tree, and too often the tree that does get planted is a species that will never grow into a large, shady specimen. Many species, like Norway Maple, Ginkgo and Japanese Lilac, actually originate overseas, and provide little value to local wildlife which has evolved to survive only on native plants.

As climate change turns up the heat on our neighbourhood, a lot must be done to renew and expand the urban forest. We should celebrate and welcome 18 new trees to Sandy Hill, but we need to do better. The City of Ottawa is currently reviewing the Urban Forest Management Plan and seeking public input on a new tree planting strategy. For more information go to:

engage.ottawa.ca/tree-planting-strategy?tool=survey_tool#tool_tab,