[CANUFNET] Water and the Growing Urban Canopy

[Mike Prueter]

Hi John,

I agree with you 110% it is truly the soils that count.  In Forestry we of 
course learned all about the various humus forms, mor, moder and mull.  We 
definitely need organic material, lots of it just like in the forest floor.  
The more organic material the better moisture retention capability we are going 
to have especially in the drier months.  It has been felt that mycorrhizae is 
most plentiful where the organic and mineral layers meet and this is where we 
are going to find the best exchange of minerals for good root growth.  The 
rooting media surrounding the root ball, or the new rooting zone should 
definitely be made-up of a good mix of organic and mineral soil.  Urban 
afforestation is definitely a challenge, especially when having to deal with 
unnatural parent material which has been layed down primarily with roads and 
buildings in mind. I share my thoughts with the hope of encouraging others to 
also share, and help prevent a planting failure for those of you planting trees 
in the urban centers.

Mike Prueter  RPF

Maple Ridge, B.C.


Quoting John Grindon <John_Grindon at brinkman.ca>:

> As installers and maintainers of municipal trees, whether
> boulevards/landscape naturalizations/stormwater pond
> treatments/commercial & institutional landscapes, we have encountered
> one constant where irrigation is concerned: healthy soils reduce water
> consumption requirements. It's a self-evident fact that is regularly
> forgotten within the competitive bid environment. Over the last several
> years we have worked with a variety of prepared growing media spanning
> the entire range of commercially available products. The results have
> generally been consistent over the range of diverse applications: soils
> containing plant-available micronutrients decrease the need for frequent
> irrigation (and coincidentally, require less weeding and invasive
> control). Innovative irrigation will go along way toward lessening the
> restoration footprint, particularly where municipal street planting is
> concerned; innovation at the point of installation will assist even
> further.
> 
> John Grindon
> Urban Restoration Manager
> Brinkman & Associates Ltd
> 520 Sharpe St
> New Westiminster BC   V3M 4R2
> www.brinkmanforest.com/page126.htm
> john_grindon at brinkman.ca
> 604-521-7771 (office general)
> 604-520-2809 (direct office line)
> 604-520-1968 (fax)
> 778-229-3599 (cel)
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: canufnet-bounces at list.web.net
> [mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of
> netami.stuart at utoronto.ca
> Sent: June 19, 2007 7:39 AM
> To: canufnet at list.web.net
> Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Water and the Growing Urban Canopy
> 
> Most of the large institutional landscapes that PMA Landscape Architects
> has designed or administered in recent years have included rainwater
> collection and use for irrigation. There are different solutions for
> different sites. For example: Toronto Botanical Garden has a rainwater
> cistern and a weather sensor that regulates water use (as well as a
> green roof and infiltration trenches in all the paved areas); the new
> Vaughan Civic Centre also will have a cistern and will use water pumped
> from the sump in the underground parking, William Osler Health Centre in
> Brampton uses the stormwater pond for irrigation.  We try to find
> innovative, low-maintenance, low-tech ways of turning off the tap and
> keeping rainwater where it belongs in the ground.
> 
> Once an institution/commercial development has decided to spend money on
> irrigation, saving water in their irrigation system is the interesting
> part.
> 
> Netami Stuart
> P M A LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECTS
> 224 Wallace Ave, #321, Toronto, ON, M6H 1V7
> t: 416-239-9818	f: 416-239-1310    e: netami at pmalarch.ca
> www.pmalarch.ca
> 
> 
> Quoting Mark Peterson <mpa at golden.net>:
> 
> > What an interesting idea. Water is so critical during the first 
> > growing season. The logistical problems do not seem to be that 
> > difficult on the surface; it does need some thinking about. Has anyone
> 
> > tried this at a large scale?
> >
> > How is the NGO Riversides project dealing with the industrial and 
> > institutional, commercial aspects of this idea J.P. Warren?
> >
> > Mark Peterson, BES, MLArch, OALA
> > Mark Peterson & Associates, Landscape Architect
> > (519)743-2990        www.openspacesolutions.com
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jp Warren" <jpwarren at interlog.com>
> > To: <canufnet at list.web.net>
> > Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 4:15 PM
> > Subject: [CANUFNET] Water and the Growing Urban Canopy
> >
> >
> > Toronto is set to double the size of its canopy. Ottawa's announcement
> 
> > of 100,000 trees planted over the next four years as part of the 
> > National Tree Planting Challenge, and the UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign
> 
> > are important and exciting initiatives.
> >
> > In order to water these trees while not increasing the fossil fuels 
> > burned to operate municipal pumps (pumps consuming a very high amount 
> > (50 to 60%) of typical municipal energy requirements) programs such as
> 
> > the NGO Riversides is initiating, the harvesting of rainwater using 
> > rainbarrels at the homeowner level and larger systems for commercial, 
> > industrial, institutional and multi-unit residential, means cities 
> > will be able to supply the growing urban forest with water collected 
> > freely, and equally importantly for local watersheds, diverted from 
> > storm, sanitary, and river systems in our communities.
> >
> > This rain harvesting approach provides leverage to both sides of the 
> > energy equation; It helps mitigate through reducing our need for pump 
> > energy, and provides for adaptation, by helping us prepare for warmer,
> 
> > drier times ahead. Also, by capturing and making available a supply 
> > normally diverted to become waste, it both 'creates' supply and also 
> > lessens demand on the municipal potable system currently used to water
> 
> > our cities growing trees.
> >
> > If we're going to grow urban forests in the hot dry environs of our 
> > cities, we can use every drop of help we can get. And as our urban 
> > infrastructures age and need to be replaced, on-site rainwater 
> > harvesting can provide a way to lighten this need as well. The new 
> > forests will require lots of water, and right now we toss the bulk of 
> > it down the drain.
> >
> > See www.riversides.org
> >
> > Cheers,     John-Paul Warren
> >
> >
> > Jp Warren
> > 416-467-1339
> > Toronto
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>