Once again, NeighbourWoods on the Grand volunteers and summer staff will be conducting a tree inventory to help assess the state of Centre Wellington’s urban trees.
Inventory workers received training from Dr. Andy Kenney of the University of Toronto and Dr. Danijela Puric-Mladenovic of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Inventory teams will be working in Elora and Fergus blocks and notifying homeowners in advance of their arrival, so they can ask questions about their trees.
Thirty-one variables about each tree are recorded – like height and species, as well as a number of indicators of the tree’s health, such as defoliation, girdling roots, conks and cracks. At the end of the summer, Kenney and Puric-Mladenovic will analyze the field data and generate a detailed report.
Inventory coordinator Alex Watts said, “Our municipality knows the condition of its trucks, roads and bridges – this information will help them get a handle the state of our urban forest.”
To date, more than 4,000 trees have been checked in 25 blocks in Elora and Fergus.
The value of the trees adds up to more than $5-million dollars – based on Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers, which is calculated using the current value of trees available for transplanting. Details about individual trees, as well as the complete report can be found on the NeighbourWoods website at www.eloraenvironmentcentre. ca.
For more information, contact Neighbourwoods at 519-846-0841 or by email at neighbourwoods@eloraenvironmentcentre.ca.
