‘It came back to life:’ Trees scarred by vandals recovering in historic Halifax park
Global News
Many of the 33 trees that were damaged by vandalism in the Public Gardens last year are recovering, in what experts are calling a 'best-case scenario.'
In the heart of downtown Halifax sits a small but beloved park known for its elaborate flower beds and stately trees.
For more than 150 years, the Halifax Public Gardens have provided a quiet refuge for visitors and a pristine backdrop for countless weddings and graduations.
Just over a year ago, however, the park was left badly scarred after vandals scaled its wrought iron fences in the middle of the night. They used an axe to hack away at more than two dozen trees, some of them more than 200 years old.
“You would think that a place that gives people so much joy and relaxation, that nobody would want to harm the gardens,” Judith Cabrita, chairperson of the non-profit Friends of the Public Gardens, said in an interview this week. “To have the trees being attacked was like a personal attack for many people.”
Sean Street, a horticulture supervisor with the Halifax Regional Municipality, said the initial prognosis for the damaged trees looked grim. In all, 33 were damaged. Three of them — mostly smaller trees — had to be cut down.
“It was a very dark time last July when we were in there,” he said during a recent lecture at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. “We were really uncertain about how many trees we were going to lose.”
But in the past 12 months, something remarkable has happened.
In the spring, all of the survivors “leafed out,” meaning they showed signs of vigorous growth as staff at the park and outside experts tended to their wounds.