With spring upon us, remediation efforts for the trees in the Plaza is underway.  As I believe you are aware, some of the 32 trees located in the square have struggled to thrive and OSEG committed to undertaking a thorough review (in conjunction with the city) and to take the steps required to establish and maintain the necessary conditions to ensure for their long-term health, growth and preservation.

 

To assist in these efforts, we engaged CSW Landscape Architects Limited and partnered with the City of Ottawa Forestry Department over this past year to assess the situation and aid us in developing a wholesome remediation plan.  As part of the evaluation and recommendation process, a number of other subject matter experts were involved including a Biologist, Environmental Scientist and Guelph University’s Arboretum Manager. The process was rigorous and if you’ll excuse the pun, we left no stone unturned to get to the root of the matter.

 

The work involved comprehensive laboratory analysis of soil, tissue sampling of branches, roots and canopies, excavation of tree pits, examination of the square design and assembly and a thorough evaluation of the irrigation system to name just a few of the steps that were commenced.

 

The findings from this work determined that there is no singular reason for the tree decay but rather it is a compilation of a number of different factors including exposure to pollutants due primarily to road salt, low oxygen and air exchange in the soils, absence of aeration pipes, and the drainage system were identified as the primary culprits.

The consultants have tabled a series of recommendations, which we have been assured will address the issues and enable the trees to prosper now and long into the future (summary of recommendations attached). OSEG has agreed to adopt and implement 100% of the recommendations and as noted above the work has already been initiated.

In total, it is recommended that 20 of the 32 trees be replaced and with the remedial recommendations that are currently underway, the health of the remaining trees is fully expected to recover and endure.  The subject matter experts have recommended that we diversify the species of the trees being replaced and those being newly planted will be a mixture of; Celebration Maple/Silver Maple/Ginko and American Elm.  Completion of the tree replacement is scheduled for the week of May 20, 2021.