The City of Red Deer will once again replace dozens of diseased trees in an effort to keep boulevards and collector roads picturesque.
Urban forester Elaine Johnson said about 170 trees will be put in this spring as soon as planters can dig into the ground and the order of trees come in.
Some trees will be replaced along collector roads in Johnstone Park, Aspen Ridge, Inglewood and Lancaster Green. As well, trees will be replaced along 30th Avenue on the Deer Park side, along 39th Street on the southside east of 30th Avenue, and 32nd Street along the north border of the Anders neighbourhood.
“We’ve got a fairly extensive amount of trees that we’ll have to replace and it will be ongoing for the next several years,” said Johnson.
In the last two years, about 300 trees have been replaced along Ross Street and in some recreational areas.
The trees are generally dying because of one common pest, the cottony ash psyllid. This invasive pest feeds on black and Manchurian ash trees, consuming the sap, causing curling of the leaves and ultimately killing them.
Johnson said the insect began causing a lot of problems about two years ago.
“We started tree injections to try to fight the infestation of this insect pest,” she said.
The chemical injections saved numerous trees.
But some trees were so far stressed, they couldn’t be saved.
“We’ll probably be looking at another round again this year, depending on the populations of the insect,” Johnson said.
Diseased trees, most of which are black and Manchurian ash, will be replaced with several varieties. By doing so, rows of trees won’t have to be replaced should disease hit again.
In this year’s municipal budget, $30,000 was set aside for the tree replacement program.
The city also has $18,000 budgeted for ongoing neighbourhood enhancement — some of which will be used for tree replacement. Some of the costs include labour. A grant through the non-profit charity Tree Canada will also be sought.
ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com