The District of Kent will be removing one of the beech trees from Pioneer Avenue, after a arborist determined it was too large to stay in its concrete planter.
In the first week of December, just under 30 district trees will be getting pruned by Davey Trees, including a number of maple trees on McCaffrey and Aberdeen Boulevards, the maple tree in Centennial Park, the dogwood trees on Vimy Road and the beech trees on Pioneer Avenue.
The beech tree in front of the Lordco building on Pioneer Avenue was recommended to be removed rather than pruned, because it had outgrown its concrete planter. According a staff report, the tree is “well beyond an idea height for a boulevard tree in the area” and its roots will likley start to damage both the planter and the surrounding sidewalk.
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“I think they’re overgrown at this point,” councillor Stan Watchorn said. “You can see from the pictures, it’s out of proportion.”
Two other beech trees, located in similar planters, have also been removed from Pioneer Avenue recently. These planters, next to the Blue Dandelion and Kent Outdoors, are now used to house bulbs for spring flowers and annuals during the summer.
The planter by Lordco will also see the same kind of flower displays.
During the council discussion around the tree removal, councillor Duane Post asked why district staff couldn’t do the maintenance themselves. Although part of it is because the district needs someone with a knowledge of arboriculture, a large part is because of legislation around safe work practices.
“Gone are the days when somebody could just whip up on a bucket truck and start trimming,” CAO Wallace Mah said.
He indicated the plan would be to eventually have district staff certified to use a bucket truck in the future.
grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com
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