WELLINGTON COUNTY – Green Legacy delivered impressive results this spring, despite being forced to revamp key elements of the program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In early April, Wellington County cancelled all planned Green Legacy Municipal Tree Day events.
Instead of residents picking up seedlings at locations around the county, the program offered a contact-free home delivery service of tree orders to residents.
With 160,000 seedlings earmarked for planting through tree days, large scale volunteer plantings and local conservation authorities, the challenge became getting those trees in the ground.
The online tree ordering deadline was extended an additional month until April 30.
“This allowed residents an opportunity to order additional seedlings and encouraged new orders,” states a report from manager of planning and environment Linda Redmond.
As a result of the extension and the delivery option, tree orders totalled 1,241.
By comparison, last year’s total was 673, notes the report, presented to county council on June 25.
Green Legacy staff began deliveries the week of April 13 and completed them by approximately May 21.
Within this 29-day time frame 165,305 trees (seedlings and potted stock) were delivered.
“A special mention should be given to (Green Legacy nursery manager) Rob Johnson and his Green Legacy team (Alison Morrison, Jessica Trzoch, Kenton Bossy and Carli Rietkerk) for their hard work and perseverance at pulling off this feat and achieving it within such a short time frame,” states Redmond.
“They all worked diligently to ensure that all residents received the trees they ordered in a very short time.”
A breakdown of Green Legacy tree distribution for 2019-20 is included below.
File courtesy of Wellington County.
