London’s trees: Benefit 11 - Islands of cool shade, PT 3

Now you know. Cities are “heat islands” that expand each year and are 5 - 9 degrees hotter than surrounding areas.

And London’s trees are islands of cool shade, as mentioned under Benefit 11, Why Plant a Tree? @ reforestlondon.ca.

As the city expands I wonder if sufficient numbers of local residents and businesses will take up Reforest London’s Million Tree Challenge (i.e., plant a million trees in ten years) so that the number of trees - and islands of cool shade - will grow as well?

I don’t have the answer. I bet, however, the number of air conditioners will grow faster than trees. Many modern day home owners rely on manufactured solutions to rising temperatures rather than using a natural solution. (Astute readers will note that by depending on air-conditioners we’re putting ourselves in a “catch-44” situation. More about that another time).

That being said, a recent long walk with my grandson through islands of shade on Ferguson Place (a few blocks from my house) has inspired me to think of a natural way to erase one big nuisance of a heat island on my back deck.


["By 3 p.m. my favourite corner is a furnace.": photos GH]

Until a few years ago, the amount of shade on the deck - thanks to several trees - was just about perfect. Then, during an ice storm, a golden plum tree was knocked down, leaving a gap right where I usually sat in my favourite chair.

I think now is the right time to replace it. The Million Tree Challenge is on and my wife and I like to use the deck as often as possible to catch a breeze.


["Out" go a few ferns and a potted plant: "In" goes a wee maple."]

With a pamphlet in hand entitled ‘Choosing the Right Tree in London, Ontario’ (supplied by Julie Ryan of Reforest London), I scanned the lengthy ‘Best Choices’ section. I spotted Eastern White Pine, Ontario’s provincial tree.

Then I looked at the amount of space available to me in a corner near the deck. Pretty small. Eastern White Pine. Pretty big.

After suggesting another golden plum or lilac bush to my wife, she pointed to a neighbour’s Japanese Maple. Beautiful, we thought. Seems the right size too.


Though our choice does not appear in the ‘Best Choices’, ‘Use with Caution’ or ‘Avoid’ sections of the pamphlet, we can both see it’s a small tree or shrub that is doing well in our neighbourhood.

All I have to do now is buy one and plant it correctly.

(Reforest London has helpful suggestions for both of those tasks as well.)

You’ll be the first to know if I do a halfway-decent job and there’s a good photo to be had!

***

Please click here to read “Islands of cool shade” PT 2.
.