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Please say “Yes” to Tree Inventory on your property

Get your trees inventoried early!  It will likely take us a couple of summers to inventory all the trees in Long Branch but click on the link below and give us your permission and address to get your property inventoried this summer.   Natalie and Henri (our summer students conducting the Tree Inventory Project) will be providing individual homeowners with reports on your own trees and/or plantable space and we will be working with the University of Toronto Faculty of Forestry to share the preliminary data and key findings with you as the data accumulates.

 

Click here to say YES to Tree Inventory

 

Future Impacts of Having a Neighbourwoods© Inventory for Long Branch
Both the Long Branch Neighbourhood Character Guidelines and Toronto Official Plan outline what sustainability features the city desires in both public and private space. Their vision, in conjunction with our analysis, has the power to really help Long Branch understand our urban forestry successes and challenges in a way that can concretely inform policy, funding and stewardship.

What we need you to do

1) Watch for Henri and Natalie this summer on your street and say “Hi” and invite them into your backyard to conduct the Tree Inventory.
2) Say “Yes, to Tree Inventory on my property” to participate in the inventory project. You can do this by clicking on this link or emailing us at longbranchnato@gmail.com and provide your address
3) Encourage your neighbours on your street to participate.
4) Come out to “Toast the Trees” to help us raise money for the program (see our earlier email with more details on what the funds will be used for)

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Our 1st Heritage Tree Dedication Ceremony

History was made on April 30th when the 200 year old oak “Big Red” at the corner of Park and Long Branch Avenue became Long Branch’s First officially recognized Heritage Tree.   The Ceremony was co-hosted by the Long Branch Neighbourhood Association and Councillor Mark Grimes.   In addition to the local residents who attended were  Councillor Mark Grimes and his staff;   Toni Ellis from Forests Ontario; Wendy Tobin, Branch Manager of the Long Branch TD Canada Trust and her staff and faculty and students from James S. Bell school.  Mary Kennedy conveyed a message from James Maloney, MP Etobicoke-Lakeshore who was up in Ottawa and not able to attend.

Hopefully this is just the first of many more Heritage Tree Ceremonies in Long Branch.   Heritage Trees bring awareness to the social, cultural, historical and ecological value of trees. For trees to qualify, Heritage Trees have to be associated with a historic person or event, or be growing on land that is historically significant. Candidate Heritage Trees are also assessed for form, shape, beauty, age, colour, size, rarity, genetic constitution or other distinctive features and/or as a prominent community landmark, however its historical or cultural significance is of most importance.

If you know of a tree in Long Branch that should be nominated, please contact us at longbranchnato@gmail.com.

 

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200 Year Old Red Oak Tree to Receive Heritage Tree Status

A photo of Big Red, our first Heritage Tree in Long Branch

On Monday April 30th, in historic Long Branch, a magnificent Red Oak, nicknamed Big Red, will be recognized by Forests Ontario as a Heritage Tree. The TD Heritage Tree Program tells the story of Ontario’s diverse and unique trees and brings awareness to the social, cultural, historical and ecological value of trees.

City of Toronto Councillor, Mark Grimes of Ward 6 will be present at Long Branch Park on Monday April 30th at 1:30 PM to commemorate this event. The great Red Oak will be added to the Heritage Tree online map so that visitors can learn more about the tree and its longstanding history.

“Besides being a living 200-year legacy of history and culture of Long Branch, this stately Red Oak will continue to thrive and provide economic and environmental benefits for generations to come” says Toni Ellis, Heritage Tree Coordinator of Forests Ontario. “We need more communities like the Long Branch Neighbourhood Association, to nominate potential heritage trees so that we can celebrate and share the stories of these living testaments to our history.”

Faculty and students of James S. Bell Middle School have been invited to the unveiling ceremony. The students will be studying trees in the classroom, learning about their environmental and economic importance.

Sapling Date

Based on measurements taken of the tree’s diameter, it was determined that it dates back to the late 1810s. In 1818, when George Brown, one of the Fathers of Confederation, was just an infant rocking in his cradle, a single red oak acorn took root in the richly treed forests of Southern Etobicoke, in what is now known as Long Branch Toronto.

Long Branch Grove Resort

Years later, the Red Oak served as a cooling canopy over one of the water fountains at Long Branch Grove and Resort, established in 1884. Just steps away, the tree was in full view of the famous Japanese

Pagoda Long Branch Hotel, the Carousel, Ball Park and Dance Pavilions and heard the delight of kids sliding down the water flume into Lake Ontario. Surrounding the Long Branch Park, Villas of Queen Anne, Victorian, Jacobean and Tudor-style, populated the Avenues of Long Branch, Lakeview and (now 35th St.) and old Lake Promenade.

The fact that Long Branch was probably named after the New Jersey’s USA Presidential summer resort settlement of 1837 is no surprise. In the late 1890s Long Branch Grove was only a 40 minute ride on the ‘Rupert’ or ‘Star Line’ steamboats from Torontos Habour. Yes, Long Branch was very much the vacation spot for Toronto’s gentry elite.

New Residential Development

Later in the 1910s, Long Branch started to become a suburban residential oasis, with lush treed 50 foot lots starting at only $8.00 per foot. The Pines, and Pines Beach 1912 advocated the fresh air and all the healthy aspects of lush treed areas with steps to Lake Ontario.

Escaped the Great Fire

Sadly, during a severe cold snap in February of 1958, the 75-year-old Long Branch Hotel burned down, due to a torch being applied to a frozen pipe. Luckily there was a strong North wind that day which saved the great oak from being scorched.

The 1933 Long Branch Cenotaph

In 1933, the great Red Oak witnessed the construction of a monument. Where the water fountain once displayed, the Long Branch Cenotaph now stands, honouring soldiers of the First World War, Second World War, and the Korean War as well as fallen heroes of Canadian Peace Missions.

Today, you can experience the magnificence of the towering 80-foot Red Oak at the south-east corner of Long Branch Avenue and Park Blvd.

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Sign-up early for your Free Tree at the Apr 4th LBNA Meeting

We are pleased to announce that the Long Branch Neighbourhood Association’s Tree for Me Grant has been approved!   Tree For Me grants support the City of Toronto’s 40 percent tree canopy cover target by encouraging tree planting and tree care on private property.

Native Tree species, suitable for all yards, will be distributed by the LBNA on May 26th from 10 – 2pm during the Spring Bird Festival at Colonel Samuel Smith Park.

Pre-registration is required.   More details to follow www.lbna.ca

Early registration to choose your free native tree species will take place @ 6:30pm just prior to the April 4th LBNA Meeting.   
We all have a role to play in making Toronto greener.
Let’s get planting Long Branch!

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200 Year Old Red Oak our First Heritage Tree

Our first Heritage Tree, Big Red, is located near the cenotaph at Long Branch Avenue and Park Road

The History and Culture Committee of the LBNA is pleased to announce that the Great Northern Red Oak on the corner of Long Branch Ave.and Park Road, adjacent to the 1933 Cenotaph, has now been officially recognized by Forests Ontario as part of their 150 Heritage Tree Collection.

Standing tall and majestic overlooking historic Long Branch Park this Northern Red Oak has witnessed many decades of change from being part of a lush forest in the ideal setting for Toronto’s Muskoka South in 1884; two World Wars; to the incorporation in 1931 of the family friendly Long Branch Village; to the present world of lightning speed technology.  Through all these changes our 1st Heritage Tree has remained nestled in the cherished and envied community of Long Branch Toronto.

Interestingly in the 1818 Canadian timeline when our Oak was  just an acorn hatchling , George Brown one of the Fathers of Confederation and founder of The Globe and Mail was born.

What is a Heritage Tree?

Heritage Trees collect and tell the stories of Ontario’s diverse and unique trees and brings awareness to the social, cultural, historical and ecological value of trees. For a tree to qualify, Heritage Trees have to be associated with a historic person or event, or may be growing on land that is historically significant. Candidate Heritage Trees are also assessed for form, shape, beauty, age, colour, size, rarity, genetic constitution or other distinctive features and/or as a prominent community landmark, however its historical or cultural significance is of most importance.

Next year, in 2019, Long Branch will be recognizing its 135th Birthday so we are happy that ‘Big Red’ will be present for those celebrations and hopefully for decades more to come in the heart of Long Branch.

The official unveiling of the Heritage Tree plaque will be announced soon.  All will be welcome to attend.

Help us nominate more Long Branch Heritage Trees

We are looking for more Long Branch Heritage Tree candidates.   Our neighbourhood has a rich history and many 100 plus year old trees that we would like protected under the Forests Ontario Heritage designation not only for the residents who live here today but for the enjoyment of many generations to follow.

Email a photo, the location of the tree and what you know of it’s story to us at longbranchnato@gmail.com or provide details via Long Branch Heritage Tree Survey and we will review and get the nomination process started for all potential candidates.

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