It used to be just a median of trampled grass between the road and the Walmer Street entrance to the Spadina subway station, but a not-for-profit organization called LEAF, with help from the TTC, has turned the strip into one of their Urban Forest Demonstration Gardens. There are now five such gardens at TTC Stations [...]

To those living along the Humber River, the heavy rainfall predicted for October 15, 1954, wasn’t cause for alarm. It had been a rainy month, so what difference would another storm make? But Hurricane Hazel‘s impact was anything but normal. As the storm dumped more than seven inches of rain on Metropolitan Toronto, the Humber [...]

Ever since QR codes—those square, barcode-ish things you can scan with the camera on a smartphone—started appearing on every flat surface, everywhere, they’ve felt like a solution in search of a problem. In theory, they could have useful applications, but so far they’ve served mainly as a way for advertisers to create printable links to [...]

LEARN: Torontonians fortunately haven’t experienced drought conditions like those in Texas, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our part to protect Toronto’s valuable watersheds. LEAF is hosting a workshop with a water resource engineer tonight, where you can learn how to use the rainwater from your house to benefit your yard and the environment. [...]

In today’s Urban Planner: eat some more Italian food with the excuse that it’s Italy’s 150th birthday; check out some dramatic shots of Toronto burlesque performers; appreciate your urban forest; and see an artist’s interpretation of online dating profile pics.

Planting community gardens in partnership with the TTC. For Torontonians who were not able to escape the city for the long weekend, there is always the comfort of green spaces like High Park, the Don Valley, or Leslie Street Spit. In total, our city has a substantial urban forest of 10.2 million trees. Not only [...]

A fresh crab apple from Cedarvale Ravine. Photo by Ayngelina Brogan/Torontoist. Torontonians seeking fresh seasonal fruit in the city tend to head to neighbourhood farmers markets or pray that their local grocery store has something other than produce shipped in from faraway locales. But lurking within parks and residential neighbourhood is a wide variety of [...]

NATURE: As part of the Junction Arts Festival, LEAF arborist Todd Irvine will be giving a guided tour of the Junction area and its various historic trees. The tour is presented by Toronto Tree Tours, in association with LEAF and the Toronto Public Space Committee. If you can’t make it, it’s worth checking out the [...]