Toronto Sherbourne Common, Canada's Sugar Beach, and the Water's Edge Promenade | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto | Teeple Architects

The 2022-23 Annual Report is out and has a brief mention of the public art to go beside the promenade in Sherbourne Common (praying for Olaffur Eliasson!) Btw I somehow missed the floating sculpture last year. How was it?

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This past week 'they' were putting in what look like the final metal beams that will support the new wave-deck at Sherbourne Common. Of course, no $$ or timeline for installing the decking but at least the support structure and the pipes below are in place,
 
Ok, I would still like to hear from WT on what's wrong w/the trees on the promenade, and what they intend to do about it.

That said, I was down there yesterday, and took some pics.

I tag @DSC here as I know he's been in touch w/staff on this.....

I only walked the section from Sherbourne to Aqualuna.

But my take is that maybe 25% of the trees are in 'Good' health or better. Which is to say no visible signs of stress.

About another 30% are 'Fair' they are obviously stressed, there are some defoliated bits or premature colour-turn, but they should be able to live, and come back to health, if what's ailing them is addressed.

A goodly chunk are 'Poor', they severely stressed with lots of die-back, it's very visible to a lay person, and while they may survive another winter, they're unlikely to survive more than a year or two at their current rate of deterioration.

Finally, there are indeed several dead, or very soon to be dead trees.

Some pics, then more discussion:

Looking west on the promenade from Sherbourne Common

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Looking East from the same spot:

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Continued evidence of Cottony Maple Scale: (the little bits of white you see on the branch)

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Overall, the evidence of scale was not as prominent as in recent years, so it seems unlikely to be a determinant factor here unless the stress of a couple of really bad y ears of it just took toll on the trees that unusual in severity.

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Things you don't want to see what looking at a tree trunk:

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The one immediately above is dead, the one above it is about to be.

But this lower one concerns me, I think the tree might catastrophically fail (which could cause serious injury) I'm not an arborist, but man does that look bad; if that were my tree, I'd take the photo and then have it cut down without even waiting on a permit.

Anyone contacting the City/WT about this, please feel free to:

a) Use my photos

b) I would suggest relating the urgency of inspection/action here to the unfortunate death of that woman in Trinity Bellwoods when a large tree branch fell on her. These need to be looked at ASAP, all of them; and the pruning cutting crew should be following right behind. There's no question there are trees that need to be removed at this point; the only question is which ones to prioritize.

If they haven't found their answer yet on the cause of the issues here, they need to bring the experts in now, before winter, and they should also have a very good look at the wood in those tree trunks after they are cut.
 
I did a ULI tour here a few months back. The fellow who helped plan the area led the tour. They are quite aware of the state of the trees and were mystified as to why. Had no answers at that point.
 
It's quite sad that the promenade trees are not doing well. As Northern Light points out, they really should have used a variety of trees to help avoid a problem like this. And yes, there are a quite a few that need to be just cut down.

I do wonder if it has something to do with lake water getting into the silva cells (as has been suggested by someone much more knowledgeable about tree health than me) - the trees in Sherbourne Commons seem very healthy in comparison.
 
Parkdalian said:
It's quite sad that the promenade trees are not doing well. As Northern Light points out, they really should have used a variety of trees to help avoid a problem like this. And yes, there are a quite a few that need to be just cut down.

I do wonder if it has something to do with lake water getting into the silva cells (as has been suggested by someone much more knowledgeable about tree health than me) - the trees in Sherbourne Commons seem very healthy in comparison.
Click to expand...

To your point, I took a pic of the Allee of Oaks on west side of Sherbourne Common South:

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Looking very nice.

They are, of course, a different species than the Acer Freeman (Silver Maple clones) all used on the promenade.

They have not been the subject of Cottony Maple Scale, which as the name suggests, is not a disease/pest affecting Oaks.

The scale still really shouldn't the cause of the issue w/the Freemans, I don't think, if it is, it's the worst case I've ever seen or heard of.......

But if it's not, then something else is at play. The timing of the deterioration coincides with the in-water works on the new sewage infra.

I have mused in my mind about whether the bracing into the dock wall may have had an impact; which as you note, could be water infiltration, or perhaps just disturbing the roots or silva cells?

I'm not sure how far they went in to the dock wall? Of course, correlation is not causation. So the timing may just be a coincidence.
 
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The remaining chunk of Waterfront Promenade that would wrap Aqualuna out to the Parliament slip is due to go ahead.

However....the tenders all came in above budget.

Consideration is being given to value-engineering the design.

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1) If you do not want the design watered down.........time to speak up UT, email Waterfront Toronto before this gets done.

2) If we must VE at all there are only 2 options above I'm ok with; one is delaying the final finishes at the north end where the area will be closed for the Slip Filling project, and deferring that work to align with the Slip project.

I'm also ok w/going to a toe-rail on the edge.

Switching lighting poles would be a real design inconsistency. Same goes for modifying the granite pattern.

Removing soil cells or the drain (which will serve to irrigate the trees/vegetation would reduce the long term health of the vegetation and increase maintence costs in the future.)

See p.170 of the FARM report for the info above and more:

 
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And this was in last year’s public art update from WT:

A new commission at Sherbourne Common. The major public artwork we plan to install at the foot of Sherbourne Street continues to progress through a competitive procurement process. Site visits took place in 2022
and an announcement of the selected project is forthcoming. 🤔
 
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