City removes 60 trees along Canyon Meadows Drive median

Dozens of planted trees thatstruggled to grow from the centre median along Canyon Meadows Drive for decadeshave beenchopped down.

The City of Calgary recently removed 60treesbetween Bow Bottom Trail and Macleod Trailthat cost approximately $1,000 each to plant.

The median provided inhospitable conditions for growth, according to urban forestry superintendent Mike Mahon, and the trees were ultimately assessed to be "standing dead."

"Tree-growing in Calgary is always a challenge, just because of our lack of rain and precipitation," Mahon said.

"On this median in particular, the lack of soil volume is the key piece that doesn't allow trees to reach a mature, healthy state. Coupled with salt impact from de-icing products from the road crews, it creates a very, very difficult and challenging site for trees to grow."

According to Mahon, the city first planted trees along the median in the early 1970s when the road was first built. More were planted in 2006 and again in 2011.

As the trees failed to thrive, Mahon says that strategies to deflect salt damage including passive irrigation and adding mulch were implemented to increase their likelihood of survival.

Butthe lack of soil volume in the median presented a particular challenge for growth; the amount of dirt wasn't substantial enough tohold the water required to nourish the trees.

"We made best efforts to keep those trees alive, and some of them survived obviously for 10-plus years. [But they had] really maximized the soil volume allowance," Mahon said.

100 trees willlikely be planted

The $1,000 price tag for the planting of a single tree is attributed to procuring, planting and watering it for five years to ensure it is established, Mahon says.

The trees along the median will not be replaced because it has proven to be too inhospitable for survival, but according to Mahon, the city will be replanting next season in the communities adjacent to the median.

In an effort to ensure losing the trees has no impact on urban forestry, Mahon says more than 100 trees will likely be planted by the city to replace the 60 lost.

This is done to maintain the growth of the Calgary's urban canopy. The city reports that canopy coverage currently sits at8.25 per cent, while its goal is toreach 16 per cent.

"If we remove trees, we'll always actively replant the trees to ensure there's no net loss of canopy," Mahon said.

But the issue of road salt and its incompatibility with sustaining plant life is a persistent one, and it isn't isolated to the median along Canyon Meadows Drive.

Mahon says the city will be constantly attempting to circumvent the affects in order to sustain plant life.

"In other areas, there's lower speed limits, so [the salt] doesn't deflect and bounce into the median as much; however, it is a concern throughout the city," Mahon said.

"It's certainly a challenge that we're trying to improve and to make work."