MOUNT FOREST – A large crowd gathered behind the post office here on Sept. 21 to celebrate the town’s first ever Tree of the Year, an Amur cork tree.
Mount Forest Green Team member Daphne Rappard said the tree was chosen because of its uniqueness.
“It is not native, which goes against our principles, but it’s cool. It’s not that old; it’s not much more than 30 years old, but it’s different,” she said.
Rappard and Erin Kiers were instrumental in helping the Green Team join up with Tree Trust, an organization that has helped save 64 older trees in various southern Ontario communities.
Braedon Witt of Tree Trust was on hand at the ceremony to officially welcome Mount Forest to the Tree Trust family.
Witt explained the organization focuses on older trees in urban areas, and uses donations to hire arborists to provide care to extend their lives. The organization claims that “every big tree does the work of at least 300 saplings.”
According to Rappard, joining Tree Trust was a natural progression for the Green Team, since they were already taking care of large trees and planting small trees.
“The Tree Trust will help us raise awareness of our legacy trees,” she said.
The Green Team was an initiative of the Mount Forest United Church, Rappard said.
“Our goal was to reduce our footprint … but as more members joined, we focused on awareness of trees and started a contest to pick the most awesome tree,” she said.
She added that arborist Toby Guenter then joined and helped make people aware of local trees.
“We did a lot of planting – at the sewage treatment plant, the old dump, the trails and the arena. Then, out of concern for the many mature trees that were being cut down in town when there was construction for road work, we decided that we needed to be more proactive.”
Rappard went on to describe the proposed road work on John Street and Fergus Street North.
“Basically, it involved cutting down all the mature trees on those streets. So, we did an awareness campaign and had petitions and went to council expressing our concerns. And council listened,” she said.
Changes were made to plans, and the first block of Fergus Street North was completed without sacrificing trees, she said.
Wellington North councilor Sherry Burke said the township is working on helping with tree health in the municipality, including looking at internal guidelines around trees, how they are considered as part of new developments and infrastructure projects, working with the Green Team to set up an inventory of trees in Mount Forest, and reviewing tree removal procedures internally.
Burke also reported that “Wellington North supports tree planting services with 700 trees planted in 2023 and another 700 to be planted this October.”
Matt Timberlake, a Wellington Heights Secondary School teacher and leader in a local environmental education program, provided 80 white spruce saplings to give out to attendees at the event.
According to Timberlake, “Each year, (the county’s Green Legacy Program) seeds and transplants over 175,000 native species of trees, with seeds collected locally.”
Pointing to one of the tiny white spruce saplings, Timberlake explained that “it takes a lot of care to make trees healthy. It takes a long time. These trees were planted in 2019.
“It’s important for everyone to be a good steward and not just plant but take care of trees.”
Kiers described the importance of planting understory trees so that when a tree dies, there will be others to take its place. During the ceremony, two tulip trees were planted behind the post office.
Following the speeches, Toby and Phil Guenter of Tober Tree Management climbed the cork tree to clean up the crown by removing dead branches.
A Manitoba maple that was infringing on the tree’s space was removed.
“This will improve space, air flow and light to contribute to the overall health of the tree,” said arborist Manuela Demedeiros.
Kiers closed the event by inviting residents to nominate a legacy tree for 2025.
“The main criterion is that it is a viable tree,” she said. “It may look rough, but it may be savable by an arborist. If you love a tree, nominate it, even if it’s in your backyard.”
To nominate a legacy tree of your choice, or to donate to the cause, visit treetrust.ca.
