Read more from the Spreading Roots conference
“Trees are the most important design element we use,” Greg begins. “However, they’re also one of the most troublesome elements.” As a Landscape Architect at Janet Rosenberg & Associates, an urban design firm based in Toronto, he knows all too well about constant issues of soil depth and quality, underground utilities, public transportation, accessibility and of course, financial realities.
I had never thought about it before - but take a moment to imagine what you would do if you were given the task of planting several large trees... DIRECTLY ABOVE A PRACTICALLY HOLLOW UNDERGROUND PARKING GARAGE! Well that was exactly the situation Greg’s firm was confronted with when designing Town Hall Square in Yorkville.
He showed us beautiful images with over 20 ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) trees resting happily in the space. So how did they do it? They created one large, continuous tree pit using layers of structural soil and gravel. The trees were planted and surrounded by dark stone-grey rings -- infrastructure that provides both tree protection and public seating. The artist in me was captivated by the attention to colour. I love high contrast and this dark grey will really highlight the remarkable green of the ginkgo leaves during the summer. In the fall it will be just as glorious as the green turns to gold.
I was also happy that Greg pointed to two great documents often used as guidelines for urban designers: The Toronto Urban Design Streetscape Manual and the Design Guidelines for Greening Surface Parking Lots. I plan to use these two documents for light reading over the winter season.
Greg continued with images of other inspiring designs, but what I loved most was that, slide after slide, you could really feel his passion for the work. He finished his talk by mentioning that the ability to see each project grow and to leave behind a beautiful legacy “makes all the difficulties well worth it.”
I would echo that statement for all of our hard work here at LEAF. No matter what issues we face while working for the urban forest, the legacy we leave behind will always be well worth the effort. I’m happy to hear that many other landscape architects feel the same way….