Newsletter

Call for volunteers: Neighbourhood Canopy Regeneration Project

three trees

QTNca is looking for volunteers to participate in the Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability (CAFES) Neighbourhood Canopy Regeneration Project. The purpose of this project is to contribute to the regeneration of the urban canopy by building capacity of community associations, and engaging with residents, landowners and existing city tree programs. It will be implemented in partnership with Ecology Ottawa.

We are looking for volunteers that have some time to contribute to this project in the late summer and fall of 2021. Volunteers will assist with reviewing the QTN canopy, identifying canopy gaps, ground-truthing survey to validate plantable areas and a week of resident engagement.

Please contact nature.qtn@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering.

Locating and Destroying LDD Moth Egg Masses

The LDD moths (Gypsy moths*) in QTN have started laying eggs. You can help to reduce the number of caterpillars next year by removing the egg masses before next spring. Removing egg masses can potentially prevent the hatching of up to 1000 caterpillars per egg mass, and therefore lower the overall negative impact to trees on your property caused by defoliation.

When is the best time to remove egg masses? You need to remove the eggs before they hatch in April 2022. If you can, wait until the fall 2021 to remove the egg masses. The reason for the wait is that beginning now and into August and September, tiny, non-stinging wasp might parasitize the egg masses. Waiting to remove or destroy egg masses until after leaf fall/the first hard frost can allow this beneficial wasp an opportunity to build up its numbers.

There are also reports of white, rice-sized cocoons on tree bark and these may be the cocoons of the parasitic wasp. Please do not destroy these little white cocoons. They will do no harm to your tree and might be hosting the LDD moths predator wasps.

Here are some photos of the egg masses, parasitoid wasps, and the rice-sized cocoons:

There are also various tutorials on how to remove egg masses are available online including these from the City of Toronto:

Note that some of the egg mass can be located high up on trees and structures. Be careful when removing egg masses and don’t put yourself in a precarious position. Watch for tripping, falling, and power line hazards. Some private tree care companies can be hired to provide this service at heights.

*The Entomological Society of America (ESA) has withdrawn this common name but no new name has been adopted. For the interim, we will adopt the scientific name LDD (for Lymantria dispar dispar) and phase out the use of the old name in our communications.

Lincoln Fields Plan Delayed Again

We all know that Lincoln Fields mall and the surrounding areas will undergo major changes, especially as we get closer to the opening of the new LRT station in 2025. Revitalization could be positive or negative, and the difference is good planning. An integrated plan has been one focus of QTNca advocacy for three years now.

City Planning promised to develop what is called a Secondary Plan to provide guidance for development in this area. It was supposed to follow soon after the Official Plan. This week we learned that it will be delayed until 2023, after the next civic election.

Meanwhile, the Official Plan, to be adopted this fall, will facilitate intensification around the LRT stations and along Carling Avenue, with more flexible permissions for developers, higher towers, and requirements for residential densities of 200 units per hectare near stations. Developers will be able to make proposals without a more detailed City plan or an integrated approach to planning. When we name community issues, we are told those will be addressed in the secondary plan – but that is now delayed and major redevelopment proposals will be approved in the meantime. That means we will see more piece-meal development without serious consideration of context.

Lincoln Fields is an important strategic area for QTN residents and for the west end of Ottawa. Its strategic importance is comparable to Le Breton Flats because of its location, access to basic services, and connections between neighborhoods and also to the river valley. The Lincoln Fields LRT station will be a major facility, given the new plans for connections to Barrhaven. And while intensification is pushed for every lot within QTN, in the name of needed housing, a large, vacant parking lot close to a station is allowed to stagnate as an urban wasteland. This is short-sighted.

The lack of vision for what Lincoln Fields area could be is disturbing. Intensification requires confidence in City Planning. It is difficult to have that confidence when such short-sighted and reactive approaches to development are allowed to continue. QTNca is now working with other neighborhood associations to find alternative ways to put forward a vision for what Lincoln Fields could be.

If you have questions or suggestions, please send a message to qtncommunity@gmail.com.

Kathy Vandergrift