LETTER
Trees losing leaves in mid-August?
On Bordeaux Street, a pedestrian artery leading to shopping centres, we see two trees planted in the 70s that are losing leaves. Is this abnormal? Is it happening in other parts of Aylmer/Gatineau? Last year, we were lucky to have this road dug up and new pavement laid; with all that noise and vibration, our houses, built close to the street, are now blessed with many cracks on the foundation floor. Our houses must have been shaken at their foundations.
And so were the roots of our beautiful oak tree! With this hot summer, even with less noise and vibration from traffic and just STO diesel buses running, no school buses, this beautiful tree is showing evidence of stress, aging and fatigue. Certified Arborist Patrick Perron, trained with the “International Society of Arboreal Culture”, helped me care for this tree last year after someone I hired had trimmed the tree without awareness of how to do it properly. He fertilized the tree, repairing damage and correcting parts of the tree that had not been done.
Today he tells me that the city has arborists who come in advance of road work to do a TPZ, a tree protection zone. They evaluate the roots before the street is dug up, pruning the roots to prevent them breaking apart under the big machines used to dig up the street. They also cut large branches overhanging the streets so they are not broken off by large machines. This prevention of trauma to mature trees makes great sense! Now I see that this information could have helped me to ask the driver last year to move his large vibrating machine, warming up in front of our house, away from our oak tree. I now can see how stressful the vibrations were on us, the tree, and our house. I am sharing this information so other residents can protect their own trees during local road work.
The Earth is on fire, and our humanity is calling us to change. Heat and floods are hard on us and our trees! Climate change is fast becoming our reality. I hope this letter will inspire all citizens to see quality of life as critical to health. Noise is one of the worst pollutions, preventing clear choices and mental clarity as we try to slow down and create balance on our streets and in our lives. It has been shown that large trees on residential streets slow the pace of drivers and our lives.
Let us listen to the wisdom taught us by the two trees of Bordeaux so we can see it is not normal for mature trees to lose their leaves in mid-August!
Judith Matheson
Heart + Soul Light Centre,
Aylmer
