"One person's whimsy is another person's eyesore. Plus, it's bad for the trees."
"The first time my children ever encountered a fairy door along a hiking trail, they were enchanted. Tucked into the bottom of a tree with space between its arched roots, the tiny rounded door suggested a secret world—one inhabited by fairies and other magical beings. They crouched down to study it, reached out to touch it with a fingertip, and came away feeling as if they'd picked up a bit of the fairy dust themselves.
Over the past year and a half, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of fairy doors popping up along urban trails. These are installed by whimsical individuals who believe they add an element of fun and curiosity to an otherwise ordinary walk, but not everyone shares this view.
The city of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, put out a directive on social media in May, asking people to stop drilling into trees, as it makes them susceptible to pests and diseases. Dave Beaton, Guelph’s program manager for forestry and sustainable landscapes, told Maclean's magazine the city 'needed to press pause... Trees are under increasing stress with climate change and invasive species. We want to reduce the impact on our stressed trees.'"
