Fear of trees still lingers after ice storm

Trees became Enemy Number One during the ice storm, and that animosity has extended into peacetime.

Last December’s crippling storm saw the city caked in a layer of ice from 20-30mm of freezing rain that fell over the course of two days. The rain weighed down the city’s 10.2-million trees — about 6.1-million of which are on private property.

The trees crashed into houses and cars, wrecked power lines and littered streets with rotting branches. Usually lush bastions of freedom from harsh sun, the trees quickly became the bringers of darkness and cold as more than a million Torontonians were affected by blackouts.

Arborist Todd Irvine says the damage of the ice storm has not been forgiven.

“I’m working in the field every day and the experience I have is that homeowners are much more afraid of their trees,” said Irvine. “As a result they’re asking arborists to do more aggressive pruning or remove trees entirely.”

Pruning is not about removing branches, Irvine said, but about removing the right branches and making sure the structure of the canopy remains strong.

“This aggressive pruning that’s being done can actually make the trees structurally less sound than if they had not been pruned,” said Irvine. “There’s a crazy irony — people are cutting off giant limbs because they want the tree to be safe, but it could cause huge decay in the trunk.”

The city’s trees were the main casualty of the ice storm, but the extent of the damage is still unknown. More than 50,000 tonnes of debris — branches and boughs ground to mulch — was removed in the wake of the storm. Private trees that are deemed hazardous and removed due to storm damage do not require a permit, according to the city’s website.

Despite the damage, LEAF Toronto, a local non-profit devoted to urban forests, has seen a drop in people taking advantage of its backyard tree program.

“I think a big part of it is just education. We’ve even seen it this year that there’s been slightly less interest in tree planting and we have a feeling that it might be related to the ice storm,” said Michelle Bourdeau, program manager and arborist with LEAF. “The most important thing when it comes to planting trees is to know what you’re doing, so bring in an arborist or expert who can advise you on what tree to plant in your yard.”

While trees present a hazard, Bourdeau said the risk can be minimized by taking care of the tree and having it pruned regularly. But, she and Irvine agree, education is essential to overcome the fear instilled by the 2013 storm.

“If you ask someone in a grocery store, do you like trees? Absolutely. Are you upset we lost trees in the ice storm? Absolutely,” said Irvine. “You follow that person home and you say I’m going to plant a tree right here, is that okay? Absolutely not.”

“People say, ‘I love trees, I just don’t want one here.’”