Street Trees in Mile End Get More Root Room--and Less Stress

The importance of keeping city trees in good health was brought home last week when the spring snow storm weighed down branches. Not all the fallen limbs have been picked up, and it's clear that many old trees just couldn't take the stress.

Cities aren't the greatest places for trees, given air pollution and the way that their roots are often squeezed by pavement or construction. Making sure they get enough root-room is one way to cut down on casualties, though, and so it is with great pleasure that I note the way trees in Mile End are being given more space.

The borough appears to be systematically doubling the size of the opening in the pavement around street trees on all its streets. Since there are many--the fruit of a well-intended policy in place for the last few years--it's not cheap, I imagine, to go along and jack-hammer the pavement up. But the effort is bound to pay off over time. Fewer trees will succumb to stress since they'll get more water where they need it. The storm sewer system also will get a reprieve as the run-off on the pavement will be less.

More trees mean cooler street-level temperatures, too, which in turn means less burden on cooling systems, as well as the pleasure of shade during hot, humid summer days. A win-win ecological effort that should be adopted elsewhere!