Trees in Calgary

[gsunnyg]

I know this isn't the right forum but while we're on the topic, this is the kind of stuff that drives me nuts about Calgary. So much space wasted, only to plant grass, even on highways/roads where future lane expansion is not even planned. Then to make matters even worse they'll plant a group of random evergreens together. Like what???

At least Edmonton has it done right. I don't see why we can't plant atleast a forest of evergreens?

 

[The Familia]

100% agree. Evergreens can do well here especially once they are established. They can grow big and take up lots of room. That whole hill beside SAIT should be covered in trees. Poplars also do well here and should be planted like weeds.
I really like what they did on 16th Ave close to Shouldice Park where the medians are filled with black and white river rock with little grasses planted in between. Looks like a rock stream. That should be replicated everywhere.

 

[1875]

dont we need to plant a trillion trees or something like that to save the planet? get ottawa to do it.

 

[gsunnyg]

dont we need to plant a trillion trees or something like that to save the planet? get ottawa to do it.

That's what I was thinking, Trudeau promised Greta he'd plant 1 billion trees. I'm personally not a big fan of the guy but I might just holler at him for some trees. Too bad we don't have a Liberal MP in Calgary where we could've just contacted them to move the message along.

 

[Urban Outdoorsman]

That's what I was thinking, Trudeau promised Greta he'd plant 1 billion trees. I'm personally not a big fan of the guy but I might just holler at him for some trees. Too bad we don't have a Liberal MP in Calgary where we could've just contacted them to move the message along.

Haha no offense to anyone but a billion trees isn't actually as many as you might think. In BC roughly 300 million trees were planted just last summer. That's not even including the rest of Canada. 1 Billion trees makes for a good headline but in reality it's just a drop in the bucket.

 

[The Familia]

A billion trees in Calgary though....now that would make a difference!

 

[Urban Outdoorsman]

Agreed, Calgary's urban forest is pretty weak. I honestly wonder sometimes why they don't plant more trees along highways and such. It's not as though it's terribly hard. And if you just plant saplings it's not even particularly expensive.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

It's because our climate borders on semi arid, and our natural environment doesn't support many species, let alone the flourishing of them. That's why our tree canopy is so shitty, and the city doesn't do a good job at watering the ones we have.

 

[Surrealplaces]

The city needs to plant trees and then water them thoroughly for a few years until they reach a certain level of maturity. After that they’re usually good.

I’d like to see those empty areas along Nose Creek/Deerfoot north filled in with trees all the way to the ring road. It’s a tall order and not cheap, but would be nice.

Maybe the city could plant the trees, and a private company could pay for maintenance of a section in exchange for naming rights. Ie. Shaw forest etc..

 

[MichaelS]

Do we really only have 1 million trees? I would have thought it would be more than that. Does that include Fish Creek Park?

 

[Surrealplaces]

According to this article we have 630,000 trees, but it says 630,000 in green spaces. Not sure what it would be for the whole city including private properties.

 

[JTron]

According to this article we have 630,000 trees, but it says 630,000 in green spaces. Not sure what it would be for the whole city including private properties.

Just green spaces and parks. Someone posted a number on SSP back in the day, might have been 5 Million for all trees total. I remember it as being around 5 trees per person....that was about 10 years ago.

 

[Chinook Arch]

The city lists the total tree population as 1.5 Million, public and private. Just over 1 per person. We can do better than that.

Tree-care and education

www.calgary.ca

 

[JonnyCanuck]

The city lists the total tree population as 1.5 Million, public and private. Just over 1 per person. We can do better than that.

Tree-care and education

www.calgary.ca

How many trees were permanently lost in that September snow storm of 4 or 5 year ago? I agree with the comment above about constant watering of new plantings. It seems with our climate, new trees just don't survive or grow to what they should be.

 

[The Familia]

Would help if private owners would not be so lazy and cheap and plant a couple trees in their yard. People want to live in the burbs and own their own house with a yard but they couldn't be bothered to plant a tree or two. Drive in any new subdivision (the NE is especially bad) and you won't see a single tree in sight. Any house backing on Stoney should have a wall of aspens along their back fence. I know if I lived there I would! We bought a house in Evanston 2 years ago. They had two deciduous and one evergreen in the front yard (big corner lot so lots of space). We ripped out the evergreen because it was half dead and planted 5 aspen and 2 crab apples in the backyard. Total of 9 trees on the property not counting shrubs. If every house planted at least one in the front and two in the back this city would be so much greener.