Last year with some fanfare the city ripped up Rachel street and made a larger divider for the bike path (without really widening the bike path itself). They started in July and finished in October. One of the last things they did was to plant trees. Now I don’t know much (if anything about trees) but I can’t see how planting them just before it frosts over is a good idea.
Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
So I figured I’d check them out yesterday. So far five of six seem to be alive. I started at the east end of the bike path and walked to Saint Urbain.
A closer look at the not quite blooming tree on Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
Approaching Saint Hubert
Eight out of nine, alive. Does anyone know how much a tree costs? And what are the costs associated with transplanting one? If I remember correctly there were crews of three or four and some heavy machinery involved…
Looking back towards Saint Hubert
11/12 or almost 92%. Maybe the city actually knew what they were doing and I’m just complaining to hear myself and prove my existence.
Just before Berri
10/12. 83%. Ooops.
Close up of not quite alive tree on Rachel just before Berri
Looking back along Rachel
11/13. 85%. Getting better (I think).
Looking back at two not so alive trees on Rachel after Berri
11/15. 73%. I’ll let you come up with your own comments…
11/21. 52%. I wonder who is responsible for planting trees in the city of Montreal. My guess would be that the bureaucracy is dense enough that five different people can point multiple fingers at each other in order to deflect blame.
Another not live tree on Rachel in between Laval and Hotel de Ville
12/25. 48%. Words fail me.
Five not dead trees on Rachel
17/30. 57%
Four not dead trees on Rachel
21/34. 62%. I guess you could say that things are looking up.
Another not live tree on Rachel just before Saint Dominique
21/35. 60%
Five not alive trees on Rachel in between Saint Laurent at Clark
21/40. 53%. This is where it gets kind of personal. As this is right in front of where I sit more mornings than not. The next time the city decides to plant trees in October, it probably would be better to do it in a place where there wasn’t free wifi or other people just hanging out.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Artsy close up shots of not alive trees on Rachel.
A not dead tree at the corner of Clark and Rachel
22/41. 54%
Four non-dead trees on Rachel just before Saint Urbain
26/45. 58%. The final tally. Not good, no matter how you look at it. Even if trees could be purchased and planted for $500/each, that’s almost $10,000 wasted by a borough that decided to save money by not clearing the snow on weekends. My guess is that we’d be talking more like $2,000 or more per tree, which means either they wasted almost $40,000 plus. Or the street is going to look like someplace in North Vietnam after the United States dumped a bunch of Agent Orange all over the place.
In season two, episode 6 of the EZ Montreal Art Podcast, Eloi Desjardins and Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand discuss the recent exhibits at the Darling Foundry by Milutin Gubash and Damla Tamer.
The EZ Montreal Podcast: Milutin Gubash and Damla Tamer
And if you would like to hear (or download) the interviews that Eloi did with Milutin Gubash and Damla Tamer, click on the appropriate links: Download Damla Tamer: Ogg Vorbis 4MB, MP3 10MB, Flac 32MB, WAV 60MB.
