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Trees in Calgary

MichaelS said:
Did they have to pay any sort of Bonus Fee or community improvement fund for the extra FAR? Or, did we just get told we had to provide it, as well as miss out on the historical facade restoration and cultural building at the same time?
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I'm curious too. I know that the city is the one storing the York Hotel facade at the moment. Who knows who is paying for that but I have a feeling it's the city. Either way, we got raked over the coals for that whole development. It might be decades until we see the south site developed
 
ThujaPlicata said:
All green ash dying is something that can definitely happen in Calgary - the emerald ash borer is an introduced pest from Asia that has killed most large native green ash in warmer parts of North America. Calgary winters are the only factor keeping the ash alive - but some mild winters can actually bring most of our green ash susceptible to the borer.
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It's a big threat to our tree canopy. The more mild our winters become the increased threat to invasive pests and disease. EAB is especially devastating and unlike DED, it seems like only a matter of time before it arrives in Alberta. That's why i'm constantly complaining about the lack of initiative in planting/ experimenting with new species. It seems like we are convinced that only species that were hardy back in the 70s are acceptable to plant now when in fact are winters are relatively milder than even 30 years ago. For example, we haven't had a -35 low in decades (at the airport) when it used to be common that our coldest temperature of the year was sub -35 (extreme minimum temp is a common standard used to determine plant hardiness). So it is worth it for the city to try out new varieties so that we are not caught flat footed if EAB or another blight hits our tree canopy.
 
Disraeli said:
It's a big threat to our tree canopy. The more mild our winters become the increased threat to invasive pests and disease. EAB is especially devastating and unlike DED, it seems like only a matter of time before it arrives in Alberta. That's why i'm constantly complaining about the lack of initiative in planting/ experimenting with new species. It seems like we are convinced that only species that were hardy back in the 70s are acceptable to plant now when in fact are winters are relatively milder than even 30 years ago. For example, we haven't had a -35 low in decades (at the airport) when it used to be common that our coldest temperature of the year was sub -35 (extreme minimum temp is a common standard used to determine plant hardiness). So it is worth it for the city to try out new varieties so that we are not caught flat footed if EAB or another blight hits our tree canopy.
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I couldn't agree more. I do believe that green ash is a very resilient tree that can tolerate our climate though I also believe that the city should try experimenting with other tree species to have a more diverse urban forest for Calgary. The moment that EAB withstands our warming winters we will have a huge amount of ash mortality - that and DED, what large boulevard trees will remain?
I'm one of the few Calgarians that enjoy the benefits of having numerous days of -35 C days for the benefit of removing invasive species from destroying our urban and regional forests. (Not that green ash or american elm are native to Calgary... but are now well established species)
 
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Mountain Man said:
The City has a hard on for the Bur Oak, think that's one of the species they are planting everywhere in hopes they will be more resilient than Ash or Elm.
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Bur Oaks require a deep taproot in order to get well established wherever they are planted or germination occurs - I agree that the juvenile oaks being planted around the city look rather sad. Once the tap root is fairly deep - these trees can be well adapted to dryer and colder conditions. The problem with oaks is that they take a while to reach maturity and so does the girth of the trunk and spread of canopy - but people want fast growing broad canopy trees, like poplars, though they are short lived.. while these oaks can live for up to 400 years old!

On an earlier post I suggested that the city should have planted oaks instead of polars 🙃 imagine what Calgary would look like today
 
Here is a rare species (for Calgary) that make for great street trees. There are four Horse Chestnut that were planted along Cameron ave years back. I expected them not to make it, but every year they seem to be doing really well.
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Disraeli said:
Here is a rare species (for Calgary) that make for great street trees. There are four Horse Chestnut that were planted along Cameron ave years back. I expected them not to make it, but every year they seem to be doing really well.View attachment 350976
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Spectacular find - these trees are giants when mature and like you said, are very rare in our continental climate.
 
Horse Chestnuts are nice trees. I had no idea we even had some in Calgary. They probably wouldn't grow in a locations like Panorama Hills, Tuscany or Skyview, but I find some of the inner city neighborhoods have their own micro climate, so maybe they'll keep doing well.
 
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