The City of Burlington has determined population growth from its 2011 census of 176,000 to over 193,000 by 2031. To accommodate this type of population increase, the City has adopted an intensification scheme that has seen huge amounts of suburban residential development. In 2010, residential expansion on Walkers Line, north of Dundas Street, further demonstrated Burlington as a quaint and charming commuter city for Toronto.

Walkers Line is a key north-south road that runs through Highway 407 and the Queen Elizabeth Way (two major east-west highways that run into Toronto). With the development of the street, the City wanted to create a matured residential area that imbued a charming atmosphere in this increasingly busy neighborhood.

A key aspect of this was the wide red-paved sidewalks and roadside tree plantings to improve the aesthetic appeal of the street. To ensure that the trees reached maturity in order to provide their plentiful benefits to this residential area, the GreenBlue ArborSystem was selected to provide uncompacted soil volume, adequate irrigation/aeration, root management, and tree protection in their establishment years.

Oakridge Landscape Contractors fulfilled the tree planting on this project, installing 1 tree per hour using two people. Each tree was planted in a 16½ feet long x 6½ feet wide x 30” deep (5m x 2m x 750mm) tree pit using GreenBlue Urban’s soil cells to create a load-bearing skeletal system that was filled with uncompacted soil to promote healthy tree establishment. ReRoot was then wrapped around the root balls to keep initial root growth away from paved surface and into the RootSpace soil volume provided.

Adur tree grates were installed to keep the root ball area open and secure, while Wyandotte tree guards were used to protect the tree in its establishment years. After 3 years of growth, the trees were mature enough to remove the tree guards. Now, after 6 years the trees are healthy and vibrant thanks to ArborSystem!