Weekly newsletter: April 18, 2023
Last week’s hot weather notwithstanding, the surest sign that spring is here is the leaves budding on trees across our community.
Each autumn, the city’s forest services (under public works) plans out locations and species of trees to plant across the city next year, including those in parks, commemorative trees, and trees in trust on private properties.
Trees in city parks are relatively straightforward. They are planted and maintained by the City’s forestry crews. This year, 31 trees of various native species will be planted at Berry Glen (20 trees) and Ken Ross (11 trees) parks.
Commemorative trees are requested by residents who wish to plant a tree, usually at a park, in memoriam. In consultation with forestry staff, the resident chooses a location and species for the tree to be planted next season.
The resident has the option of including a plaque beside the tree. Commemorative trees are 400$ without a plaque, 900$ with a plaque. There will be one planted at Stonecrest Park this year.
Lastly, trees in trust are trees planted by the city free of charge on private property with street frontage, like a front or side yard. The resident pledges to maintain the tree for the first three years of its life. Twenty-nine trees will be planted in our community this year through this program.
Find out more about our municipal tree program on the City of Ottawa website.
The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority also plants trees across the Rideau River watershed, which includes large areas of our city, focusing on large empty fields that are longstanding or newly vacant. The RVCA will be planting its seven millionth tree later this year!
We need this more than ever. Our city’s trees can’t catch a break.
Since the late-1990s, event after event, whether it’s pests or weather, we seem to lose trees every year despite policies and efforts to continuously protect and expand our tree cover.
Aside from municipal program and through the RVCA, I plan to engage other community and non-profit partners to increase the number of trees in our community.
Trees are not only good for the environment, but they also provide valuable shade for people, protect soil from erosion, improve our quality of life, and just look good. Once mature, roadside trees also contribute to traffic calming and drainage!
Our community has large areas that will benefit from increased tree cover, including along our major avenues like Fallowfield and Woodroffe.
Let’s start a journey to becoming Ottawa’s leafiest (or needl-iest, if it’s evergreens) suburb.
-Wilson