Elmhurst Park

Fall clean-up (Sept 25) & updates on trees in Frank Ryan and Elmhurst parks

Fall clean-up event
Come help clean up our neighbourhood. We will be cleaning our parks, greenspaces, and surrounding areas. Meet us at Frank Ryan Field House on Saturday, September 25, 2021 from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM to get supplies and choose an area to clean. Latex gloves and garbage bags will be provided. In the event of rain, we will reschedule to Sunday, September 26, 2021.

You can add this event to your calendar by subscribing to our Google Calendar or to our Facebook Page. Regular updates are also shared with the local community Facebook Group – a good place to chat and meet your neighbours.

Update – Evergreen tree proposal at Frank Ryan
The City has reviewed our request for evergreen trees to be added to Frank Ryan Park to help shield the rink from the north wind. Upon consideration of other park usage and operations, the City is planning to add two White Pine trees northwest of the rink. Because of the equipment used during the annual rink installation, particularly the need for a boom truck to install the lights, it will not be possible to get trees installed directly north of the rink. Two hackberry trees will also be planted between the gazebo and the basketball court. Two replacement trees will be planted along Stuart Kettles St. parking lot, one hackberry and one honey locus. The work is scheduled to take place this fall. If you have any comments on this work plan or have ideas for additional planting in QTN please let us know at nature.qtn@gmail.com.

Update – Removal of Dead Wood in Elmhurst Forest
Removal of dead wood took place throughout the summer and the work is nearing completion. The City has informed us that they plan on substituting the former gatepost at the Elmhurst entrance with large rocks once they have completed the tree removal and clean-up. On your next walk, look for the snags that were left standing from the latest tree cutting event. They will help provide a variety of habitats for the Elmhurst wildlife (new and older snag photos provided).

Additional Information to keep QTN clean!

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.

Removal of deadwood in Elmhurst Park

The City of Ottawa forestry operations has informed our Natural Environment committee that they will be in the area over the next few days (starting July 14) to remove deadwood in Elmhurst park to address the volume of wood on site.

Update (2021-07-15) The crew will also proceed with the removal of some trees identified by a red mark. Ash trees make the majority of the removal. The City of Ottawa has identified a few good candidates to leave as snags to support the ecological forest functions. Other trees will be removed manually (i.e., not using large scale equipment) to minimize damage to the forest floor. The tree removal is likely to start next week.