Carstowe Rd is a short one-way road that leads east from Mt Pleasant Rd in Toronto’s Moore Park neighbourhood. It is mainly used by dog walkers. There are about two hectares of linear parkland along the sides of the road. The north side, between the road and the backyards of Ridge Drive residents, was planted with native trees and shrubs in 2000 by Urban Forest Associates Inc (UFORA). The south side borders on the CP Railway tracks. The park area ends at the MacLennan Avenue footbridge across the train tracks. On the other side of the footbridge, there is an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA). This area marks the north shore of the historic Lake Iroquois shoreline.

Lake Iroquois was a larger, deeper version of Lake Ontario that occupied the Toronto area 12,000 years ago. The lake was formed by an ice sheet that dammed the St. Lawrence River, forcing the water behind it to rise. Toronto’s downtown core would be under approximately 50 metres of water if Lake Iroquois had survived after the end of the last ice age.

UFORA Planting program

Between April 1999 and April 2000, UFORA removed turf and invasive species, and planted 315 native trees and shrubs, in cooperation with groups such as Rotary, Canada Trust and local schools. This included 150 white oak plugs and 25 red oak seedlings, 107 native shrubs and 37 other assorted native trees. They noted the presence of non-native trees, including European Linden, Norway Maple, White Mulberry, and Manitoba Maple.

They aimed to create an oak woodland environment, but the soil was too poor and there were some very damp areas. The current plan is to transition to a mixed forest of deciduous trees and conifers Toronto ravines.

UFORA undertook regular removals of invasive woody plants up to about 2019, and the City removed some of the larger Norway maples. Invasive growth has been aggressive and rapid, so it requires yearly follow up. The line of European lindens along the north side has reproduced a lot, and these need to be removed. Additional planting was done in conjunction with the Rotary Club in 2019. Many of the native plantings are still visible, often with their tree guards still intact, but they are in danger of being suffocated and out-competed by invasive species such as European buckthorn and Norway maple. The understory was planted with Canada anemone, ostrich ferns, mayapple, zigzag goldenrod, sensitive fern, and Virginia waterleaf, but it is now mainly composed of invasive species such as dog-strangling vine, goutweed, Japanese knotweed, and English ivy, rather than prairie grasses or wildflowers.

Toronto Nature Stewards is an organization of trained volunteers who are focused on restoring the natural beauty of Toronto’s parks and public land. They operate on a franchise-like system, where each trained Lead Steward supervises up to ten volunteers. Working with City approval and according to strict guidelines, they remove litter and invasive species. They then plant TRCA-approved native plants grown under strict ethical guidelines to ensure that they are appropriate for Toronto ecosystems.

In 2025, they worked at 49 locations across the City, and in 2026, five additional sites were approved, including TNS Carstowe Rd. The Carstowe Rd. project will be spearheaded by John Oyston, an experienced TNS volunteer and Lead Steward who has lived a block south of Carstowe Rd. for the last 25 years. He has an Ontario Diploma in Horticulture and has served on the Boards of the North American Native Plant Society and Don’t Mess with the Don. In 2022, he volunteered at TNS Roxborough. That winter, he took his Lead Steward training, and in 2023, he was the inaugural Lead Steward for THS Leaside Park. He helped to train two additional Lead Stewards for that site, with a third in the pipeline. For three years, he has been trying to get permission to do stewardship at Carstowe Rd, and is pleased to have finally succeeded.

Invasive species removal

Invasive species are plants or animals that have been relocated by humans from their natural locations to other areas. In their new location, away from the predators that used to feed on them in their native land, they have grown prolifically and spread widely. This is a problem, as they do not provide food or habitat for our native spaces. Instead, they crowd out plants adapted to local conditions and that support native wildlife.

This gallery shows some of the invasive species currently present on Carstowe Rd.

Timeline for TNS Carstowe Rd.

January to April 2026 will be devoted to informing neighbours, especially those living on Ridge Drive, about the existence of TNS Carstowe Rd, in an attempt to educate them, to gain acceptance and support for the project, and to recruit volunteers.

The stewardship season will begin during the weekend of April 24 to 26, 2026, with a garbage picking event to coincide with the City of Toronto’s Clean Toronto Together program.

After that there will be a series of weekly or bi-weekly events (day and time TBD) focused on removing invasive species as they appear. This would be garlic mustard in May, DSV in June, working through to Buckthorn in October. Removal methods will include pruning, scything, digging, spading, extractigating. Volunteers will be trained in the appropriate methods of removing each invasive species. No prior experience is expected. All tools and equipment will be provided for free, although volunteers might prefer to bring their own gardening gloves, trowel and pruners if they have them.

The 2026 growing season will be devoted to removing garbage and invasive species. In 2027 and subsequent years, appropriate native plants will be added to the understory.

If you want to learn more about this project (and maybe volunteer!) please email johnpoyston@gmail.com .