Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 41(1): January 2015 specific neighborhoods and watersheds. These organizations, over time, may plant a relatively sub- stantial number of trees, thereby influencing the overall species composition of the forest. Addition- ally, the City of Toronto’s urban forestry website directly refers people interested in planting a tree on their property to NPOs involved in tree plant- ing in the city. In the context of this research, the NPOs invited to participate operate citywide rather than having a focus on a particular region in the city. Garden centers and nurseries play an important role in shaping the species composition of an urban forest. And although the effect of the nursery industry may be significant, investigations into its influ- ence are only just beginning (Pincetl et al. 2013). Toronto’s garden centers and nurseries both source and limit the plant material available in the city to some extent. They are gatekeepers for tree diversity, as what is available to customers limits what can be planted (Pincetl et al. 2013). The goal of contacting garden centers within (and immediately close to) the municipal boundaries of Toronto was to gain an understanding of what tree species are most com- monly sold at these businesses. This information should provide insight into what is being planted on residential property in particular. Whereas other types of tree planting actors (such as landscape architects, developers, contractors, and NPOs) use garden centers and nurseries as well, these larger entities also have access to wholesalers or other larger scale suppliers operating at the provincial, national, and international levels. Toronto residents, however, are more restricted to buying their trees from local businesses, such as those included in this research. Lastly, the city’s Urban Forestry Department was included to gain insight into planting trends at the municipal level. As the municipal share of the urban forest is managed under a coordinated umbrella, with planting centralized to a single unit in the department, gaining a clear understand- ing of municipal planting trends was relatively straightforward and reliable. Street and other city-owned trees do not make up the majority of the urban forest, but they are some of the most visible urban trees and are the ones that people oſten interact with and receive benefits from. As such, they are a significant part of the urban forest. The first three actors were contacted using an online survey or a combination of online and mailed 29 paper surveys between March and October 2013. In all cases, a multi-contact approach was used, with up to four contacts, to increase participation rates (Dill- man 2007). While each survey was tailored to the spe- cific actor, they all inquired about commonly planted (or sold, in the case of garden centers) tree species. A total population of 111 landscape architects working in Toronto was identified using the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA) website search engine. The OALA is the registering body for landscape architects in Ontario, administer- ing the provincial licensing exam. The landscape architects identified through this search would be active, full members of the association. All iden- tified landscape architects were invited to par- ticipate in the survey, excluding those working for city government to minimize overlap with infor- mation gathered from the city. Where multiple landscape architects worked at a single firm, one individual was randomly selected to be contacted in order to avoid overwhelming individual busi- nesses. In a few instances, landscape architects referred the survey to a colleague whom they felt was more suited to respond to the specific questions. NPOs that operate citywide and were engaged specifically in treeplanting were selected to par- ticipate in the online survey; only two organiza- tions met these criteria. They were personally contacted to determine interest in participating, with both organizations completing the survey. A list of potential participant garden centers and nurseries in the City of Toronto (and the sur- rounding area) was compiled using DMTI Spa- tial’s Enhanced Points of Interest (EPOI) database. DMTI Spatial is a company that compiles and sells location-based data. The list was modified through the addition of some businesses based on Yellow- pages® and Google® searches. Other businesses were removed because they were incorrectly categorized as garden nurseries, were no longer in business, or did not sell trees. A total of 20 garden centers located within Toronto or close to the city bound- aries were identified and invited to participate. Large chain stores that have seasonal garden center departments, such as Home Depot and Loblaws, were not included in the research. It was felt that, as large national or international firms it would be difficult to determine Toronto-specific variations in tree sales given they generally sell only a lim- ©2015 International Society of Arboriculture
January 2015
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