1780 Lawrence Ave
Toronto, ON
We started this ravine stewardship project in May 2020, in partnership with Arborvitae Ecological Landscapes Ltd. The project was in response to a proposed housing development that backs onto the Black Creek ravine system. We carried out three distinct phases for this project: invasive species management, refuse cleanup, and tree planting.
By treating or removing the invasive species throughout the park in the early phases of the project, we allow for a higher success rate for the native herbaceous plants and trees being planted in the later phases. We removed garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and treated Manitoba Maple (Acer negundo) and Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica).
We spent a few days cleaning up all garbage in the park. As this is a highly urbanized site, it is subject to degradation and collection of waste, however it is still important habitat for urban wildlife as well as a corridor for movement and migration (see wildlife sightings at the end!)
Now the fun part-- planting trees! Our team of four planted 493 calliper trees trees throughout two restoration zones. We planted a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees as per the existing conditions in each zone.
Examples of trees in Zone 1: White Pine, Red Maple, Paper Birch, Basswood, Trembling Aspen.
Examples of trees in Zone 2 (not pictured): Sugar Maple, Hackberry, Silver Maple, Bitternut Hickory, Burr Oak.
Bonus: Wildlife Sightings! We got to see, firsthand, how ecologically important this site is. Pictured below: DeKay's Brownsnake, White-tailed Deer, Scarlet Tanager.
