Tree Trust Launch
Thank you to all who joined
us in launching our carbon offset program! June 1st, Tree Trust saw its
first mature tree cared for by Baum Tree Care, MW Tree Service, Full Circle
Tree Care, and Out of Your Tree Care. These arborists worked to extend the
life of the Sugar Maple, thereby prolonging its ability to sequester carbon.
We would like to thank MP Michael Chong for showing
support, as well as Jason Thompson for being the first to offset his flight,
and thereby adopting a quarter of the tree.
If you would
like to offset your flight or learn more, visit TreeTrust.ca or click on the
“Carbon Offset†Tab.
Call For Volunteers
If you have been looking for an opportunity to
contribute to our community, meet some really nice folks, learn some things
then please consider volunteering for Neighbourwoods. All of our
programs rely on folks just like you. Some of our
projects ask for a couple of hours – like planting and stewards,
andÂ
others need a longer commitment over the
summer.
In all cases, you’ll learn about trees and feel
good!
We invite you to take a look at the 4 volunteer
opportunities we have for 2019 and fill our form below to find out
more. No obligation!
Plan E Winner Announced
Plan E, a program incubated by Elora Environment Centre with key national partners, is dedicated to finding and equipping the next generation of Canadian youth to better lead and educate around global Climate Change issues.
Our first initiative was The Plan E Climate Video Challenge because we believe that stories hold the power to inspire action. We wish to thank the many, many youth who submitted video entries and are pleased to present the Winner and Runner-Up from those excellent work by youth from ages 11 to 18.
OVERALL WINNER
Dear Canadians by Talia Yawney
Title: Dear Canadians
Creator: Talia Yawney
Age: 16 years old
Location:Â Guelph, ON, Canada
Dear Canadians was chosen as the winner of the Plan E Climate Video Challenge. This film is written from the perspective of Mother Earth as she narrates a letter for all Canadians. Her letter discusses current issues regarding the environment such as the statistics about Canada warming twice as fast as the average rate of global warming and Canada’s relationship with the industry despite the recent declaration of a national state of climate emergency. This film calls Canadians to protect the environment for future generations and to open their eyes to the effects of climate change in their home country and abroad.
Talia will accompany Dear Canadians when it is screened at the Planet in Focus Film Festival in Toronto on Saturday October 19th.
RUNNER UP
Take Action! by Evie Murray & Amelie Gamble
Title: Take Action!
Creators: Evie Murray and Amelie Gamble
Age: 11 years old
Location: Waterloo, ON, Canada
This film captures Evie and Amelie interviewing members of their community about their thoughts on climate change. The video ends with them sharing an important lesson around climate action!
An Interview with our Urban Forest Manager, Mat Alain
Neighbourwoods satdown with Mat
recently and posed some questions that we know readers
arewondering:
Does the Township use the
Inventory Data we’vecollected over the years and if so,
how?
Yes. Â We sure appreciate having
the data on so manyof our trees and use it in 3 ways:
- We haveestablished 7 community maintenance
pruning zones in CW, and tackled Zone 1first because that is where we had the
most inventory data. Knowing thestructural health of our trees helps
determine fair pricing for our pruning contractor. - Our
chiefmandate in planting is diversity to mitigate the risk of widespread
disease inone species. Because of Neighourwoods,we know that we have a
large number of Maple trees, so we can make informeddecisions about what to
plant to start to build a more diverse urban forest. - When
I amasked to look at a specific tree, the more historical data I have about a
tree,the better I can understand the overall health of the tree.Â
Speaking of planting, we are
seeing lots of newstreet trees – what’s being planted and how
many?
About 70% nativespecies like Oaks,
Hackberries and Serviceberries- which as small stature treesmake them ideal
under hydro lines. About 30% are non-native for 2 reasons;because there is a
limited supply of native stock and some are, frankly,hardier for some
sites- like the Japanese Zelkova (related to an Elm) andKatsura
trees.
We’ve planted about200 street trees in 2017 and
another 200 in 2018 and plant to put in the samethis
year.
I’d like to remind residents if they have an
irrigation bag around their tree, please fill it about once a week during hot
dry weather, to help the tree get
established.
What is the success rate of
street trees?
About 90% – and we count on
homeowners to do their part by watering, mulching and pruning their baby
trees correctly.
I know the township is also
planting in naturalizedareas – can you
elaborate?
I’ve organized somecommunity
planting days with help from the corporate sector which sends volunteersand
provides some of the funding needed to purchase plant
material.
In 2018, Â 90 trees and shrubs were planted
at the FergusSportsplex with the Rotary Club of Fergus Elora and Green
Legacy
- 290 trees and shrubs along the Trestle
Bridge Trail near Southridge park with support from Vitner’s Cellar,
CanSafe – Safety Zone Fergus, and Friends of the
Grand. - 141 trees and shrubs beside the Cottontail Trail
with help from Union Gas, Dillon Consulting and Green
Legacy.
And this spring, weplanted 276 trees
and shrubs at Elora Meadows Park, Harper Crescent Park andthe Gzowski Street
trailhead of the Elora Cataract trail with support from RBCand Green
Legacy.
The Ash trees seem to be coming down
faster now- is that true?
Yes. We are
about halfway through the 12 year Emerald Ash Borer infestation and ash
mortality cycle. Â We are seeing larger numbers of ash trees declining
this year than previous years and expect even more next year. We’ve
lost about 1,500 so far and 50 more are slated for removal next month. Our
goal is to re-plant at a ratio of 2:1 but because it is so busy now, the rate
is closer to 1:1, but we’ll make up for the trees down the road.
What
about those drastically pruned Ash treeson Chalmers Street in
Elora?
They will be comingdown this
year.
For homeowners who would like a new
streettree, what should they do?
Call
me. We’ll check out the site for overhead wiresand ensure there is
adequate soil volume, we’ll put them on the list and get tothem as fast as
possible.
And we have to ask the age-old
question:Â is a public tree bylaw in our
future?
There is staff andcouncil support
for it – it’s coming along. For one thing, it will be helpful for
giving enforcement teeth to treeprotection zone requirements outlined in our
Public Forest Policy.
Thank you
Mat.
People are welcome tocall me at
519-846-9691 x 218 or email me at malain@centrewellington.ca.
Neighbourwoods – Decade In Review
Linked below is a PDF version of
our “Neighbourwoods – Decade In Review†report, detailing the
achievements and programs supported by Neighbourwoods between 2009 and
2019.
A Healthy Dose of Green
Learn more about the benefits
trees and forests have on our overall health and well
being.
PDF Download: https://eloraenvironmentcentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/A-Healthy-Dose-of-Green_Jan_12_12.pdf
Stewarding trees this summer
This summer, NeighbourWoods
volunteers armed with a trailer full of mulch, stewarded 200 trees growing in
10 locations in Centre Wellington. Many thanks to Ted Ecclestone, our
driver and mulch man, and volunteers, Larry Dean, Max MacRae, Bryan Hayter,
Julia Hanson, Josh Taylor and our two hard-working summer students Joe
Atkinson and Jenessa Lowndes.
Â
Neighbourwoods Mulching
The Neighbourwoods crew and
dedicated volunteers, Deb Jakab and Ted Ecclestone, were out mulching trees
on June 27th around Elora. Using mulch from the
Township, they mulched over one hundred trees in an afternoon. They visited
many trees at sites including the Elora Public School trailway, Bridge Street
and First Line, and the road to the OPP office.
Mulch is
vital for both the maintenance and health of urban trees because it keeps
their roots cool and moist on hot summer days. When mulching, it is very
important to create a ring shape instead of piling mulch tight against the
trunk of the tree. This helps keep the base dry and eliminates the chance for
damp rot to form on the trunk.
Tour the Trees
This past Saturday,
Neighbourwoods and the Canadian Tree Fund hosted Tour the Trees; an event
that put our town’s natural history in the spotlight. Our 30 cyclists
toured around Fergus and Elora to listen to the stories behind nine
magnificent trees – and one rock. This tour took us from the Sugar Maples
planted in honour of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, to the Kissing Stane
in Fergus’ James Square. If you didn’t have a chance to join us, a
listing of the trees that we saw will be available soon.
We
are very thankful to our speakers Deb Dalziel of Centre Wellington Tourism,
Toni Ellis of Neighbourwoods, Ali Morrison of Green Legacy, Al Koop and Gary
Bryant of Older Voices, Monique Lee of the Centre Wellington Arborists
Association, Greg Boland of the Chestnut Council, John Wilson of the Canadian
Tree Fund, Kyle Smith of the Aboyne Museum, as well as Rick Goodfellow who
led our pack of cyclists.
We would also like to thank our
sponsors: The Township of Centre Wellington and the Rotary Club of
Fergus-Elora, as well as donations from Drayton Entertainment, the Elora
Festival, Green Legacy, and the Elora Brewing Company, and Wreckless Eric’s
Café for providing coffee.
Tree Inventory underway again this year
Once again a team of volunteers
together with our summer students will be working in the field collecting
data from the trees in Elora and Fergus. Again this year we will be
re-visiting street blocks we inspected in 2010, as well as tackling fresh
blocks. Not only do we gather data about our trees – such as their health,
diversity, and location – but this is an excellent opportunity to meet with
homeowners to talk about their trees, help answer questions, and of course
sing the praises of their trees. This year, we are going high-tech by
inputting data into our new tablet, instead using paper and
clipboards!