ELORA – Centre Wellington officials say a street tree planting partnership with Wellington County’s Green Legacy Program will have numerous benefits for residents, trees and the environment.
This fall the township received 10 large caliper trees donated by Green Legacy for street tree planting.
As part of an ongoing pilot project, five Ohio buckeye trees and five American mountain ash trees were planted on township streets by staff.
“This is a true example of the great relationship between … Centre Wellington and Wellington County staff,” county Warden and township Mayor Kelly Linton stated in a Dec. 22 press release.
“Our employees continue to impress me with their ability to work together to identify new and innovative ways of promoting environmental sustainability and enhancing our urban forest.”
In 2018, Centre Wellington began exploring the benefits of contract-growing street trees rather than purchasing nursery-grown trees.
The township entered into an agreement with Green Legacy for them to grow small batches of native street trees as a pilot project.
“The Green Legacy nursery produces native trees and shrubs grown from seed collected from local municipalities and cared for entirely by Green Legacy staff and volunteers,” states the township press release.
“In contrast many traditional nurseries grow trees that are vegetative clones of desirable cultivars grafted to different rootstocks, may be shipped from anywhere in North America, and the original propagator may be unknown.”
Township officials say the “anticipated benefits of planting trees that are grown from seed on township streets” include:
– their potential failure point at the graft wound is eliminated;
– they will grow true to their species (i.e.: they will not be overtaken by their rootstock which may or may not be desirable);
– there is a clear chain of custody;
– they will have “natural genetic variability and therefor provide a greater contribution to biodiversity”;
– a “more biodiverse urban forest is more resilient and better equipped to deal with novel biological or environmental stressors”;
– “locally collected seeds are more likely to produce trees adapted to our unique climate and growing conditions;” and
– it allows an opportunity for the township to select, collect and provide rare or desirable native seeds to Green Legacy for redistributed to municipalities within the county.
Township officials say the street tree planting program will also help the Green Legacy Program achieve its goal of increasing the amount of local forest cover in both urban and rural areas.
For more information or to get involved, visit www.greenlegacy.ca.
