Sawdust…all that’s left of a mature pine tree in Ben Nobleman Park

Well, six trees were cut down in Ben Nobleman Park this week. Thankfully, they were not our fruit trees. Our little park is preparing for some disruption this year as a strip along the north side of the park is going to be excavated for utility lines. This work is in preparation for the construction of twin tunnels under Eglinton Avenue W. Those tunnels will one day soon accommodate the new Eglinton Crosstown light rail.

As sad as it is to lose some of the park’s mature trees, we at Growing for Green are also very excited about the expansion of public transit here in Toronto. We hope that after the work is done, new trees will be planted on the site. Of course, it will take many years for those young trees to be as large, and perform the same air cleaning and purifying services that an older tree does. If you want to learn more about the importance of older trees in our environment, click here to watch a short film about it.

So far, most of our orchard trees are safe. As part of the utility relocation, two of our serviceberry trees will have to me moved to another place in the park. Serviceberries, while producing a delicious berry like fruit, are native trees and we hope they will survive the move. Our more delicate conventional fruit trees, including plums, cherries, apricots and apples, are safe for now and this summer we are expecting our first harvest.

We still do not know if Metrolinx is planning to use the park as a location for a southern entrance to the light rail.  Many of our supporters around the city signed petitions and filled out surveys asking Metrolinx to honour and protect our green space (rather than paving part of it over) and we hope they will. An entrance to the light rail would indeed result in the destruction of a part of our orchard and that would be very sad for us – in particular since it takes up to 5 years for a young fruit tree to provide a harvest.

In the meantime, despite the construction work taking place in the northern part of Ben Nobleman, the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard will be open for business this summer and that means we will still be able to enjoy stewardship days, workshops and events in our park. Come and join us! Make sure you are on our mailing list by clicking here.