Have Guelph s delightful ‘fairy doors’ become a forest plague?
While many love the miniature doors affixed to trees, the city was receiving an increase in complaints about how the doors are ruining the landscape in parks and natural areas
July 8, 2021 A young Guelphite stops to investigate a fairy door in Marksam Park’s ‘Friendly Folk Forest’ (Photograph by Brendan George Ko)
It was treated as a stealth operation. Adrian Ferrazzutti would put a small cordless drill in his backpack, along with a box of screws. Then he and his kids would hike around Guelph, Ont., looking to install “fairy doors.” When they reached the perfect tree one with arches at the roots he’d pull out a miniature door they’d made in their family woodshop and, when no one was watching, mount it over one of the cavities at the base of the tree to create a “fairy house,” running screws through the door’s tiny hinges.