Saturday, August 16, 2008

Neighbourhood Park


One of the things that I love about living in an older neighbourhood is that they were developed at a time when parks were seen as vital elements of neighbourhoods. After a walk today, I was motivated by my gratitude for these lovely trees to do a bit of research.
Here's what I found: "First established in 1925. The site was more like a nature reserve than a recreational park, boasting a magnificent stand of mature oak trees. Various other trees were also present and read like the appendix in a forestry manual: soft maple, white ash, walnut, red cedar, spruce, pine, basswood, wild cherry, witch hazel, thorn apple, elm, hickory, silver maple, and wild crab apple. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them were seriously diseased and the Board of Parks Management had to weed out these layers of blighted underbrush. Except for a few healthy, young elms, which were transplanted along City streets, and several uniquely shaped trees, the area was almost totally thinned out. As a result of this stewardship, there are approximately 2,000 oak trees presently growing in the park's vicinity."

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