Toronto’s century-old enormous elm tree to be cut down

The elm has been a staple in Christie Pits for generations, but next week it will be coming down.

A native elm tree towering over the Christie Pits neighbourhood for a century is coming down.

At the end of May, the City of Toronto determined that the American elm, located on Barton Avenue, was nearly dead.

Road closure signs have been posted on the street, indicating that the removal of the enormous elm will take place between Tuesday and Thursday.

“I’ve lived in the neighbourhood for 25 years, and our family even has a name for this tree ​- Eddie the elm,” said Brenda Cooke, who came by to take pictures of the tree Friday.

“I’m very upset. A tree like this doesn’t come along every day. I’ll never see a tree like this again in my lifetime,” an emotional Cooke added.

Tanya Neumeyer says they have been admiring the tree from Christie Pits park for years.

“I love this tree,” they said.

“It had a full canopy of leaves providing shade and shelter for birds and humans, and this year, as you can see, there are no leaves on 95 per cent of it.”

Joel Harrison-Off, the acting supervisor of the city’s forest healthcare and management, said the tree is one of the largest native elm trees in Toronto and was one of the few survivors of Dutch Elm disease, which ravaged the population.

“I’m sad, to be honest,” said Harrison-Off. “I’ve been investigating and inspecting this tree for the past 10 years.”

The tree had been getting injected with fungicide, and while tissue tests for disease were inconclusive, he said illness can develop quickly.

“This is a big hit to that downtown urban canopy; it’s a big hit to people familiar with that tree, who liked to see it through the seasons,” Harrison-Off said.

“It’s a big hit for us forestry people who are trying to maintain these trees, to replace something that large, you know, takes hundreds of years.”

Preserving the elm’s legacy

Eric Davies hopes to see the elm’s legacy live on. He and his team at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Forestry are working to collect the elm’s seeds in an effort to get more native tree species back in the ground.

“Knock on wood, the seeds are viable, the cuttings are viable,” he said.

Davies explained that come Tuesday, when the tree begins to come down, his team will collect seeds and then take them to the university to evaluate them. He said that if they grow, the elm trees can get to a good size quickly.

“I think it’s hopeful considering the history of this tree throughout many years,” said local resident Daniel Damiao.

The city said removing the tree will prevent it from becoming a hazard because dead branches are prone to breaking and help prevent the further spread of disease.