More Than Just Trees
My brother Peter called me this morning. He has a cottage near Eganville, Ontario. About an hour west of Ottawa. He was exclaiming over the drought in eastern Ontario and mentioned that the 150 year old oak trees around his property are looking stressed.
They are changing colour WAY too early.
His point: THAT is how dry it is up there.
It is a common story in many parts of Canada. When a large oak, with an extensive tap root starts to show stress, you know we have a difficult situation. One where a solid week of rain would not be a bad thing.
With my “horticulture” hat on (I have been in the gardening/tree business for many years) I recommend that you put a long, slow flow of water at the base of all your trees regardless of their maturity. Do it soon and if we get lots of rain a few weeks, consider that a bonus.
We Don’t Just Plant Trees
This raises a good question for us at Trees For Life: do we water our trees?
The answer is an emphatic “yes”. When we plant trees with partners who provide the land and a portion of the cash for each tree planting project, our contract stipulates that watering will occur, when appropriate, for three years after planting.
We do not just plant trees, we grow them. After three years of care, they are generally deeply rooted and ready for life without our help. Our goal is to achieve 80% survival.
It might interest you that our trees are “teenagers” when we plant them. We plant a few small, reforestation type of trees, but not many. The majority of our tree stock is container grown in Canada, and all of them are native. The cost to plant a tree and nurture it is about $150 which is why we ask for a $150 donation for each tree planted to honour a community or family hero.
When you donate to plant a tree, we send a certificate to your “hero” telling them that you have planted a tree to honour them.
I think this is a great tribute to a loved one, or a community health care worker, who was a hero during times of COVID.
Learn more about Hero Trees here.
There is More:
We asked you what you wanted from Trees For Life and we heard many of you say that you want more public tree planting. Opportunities to bring friends and family together to plant trees that will provide many benefits in the future.
A cleaner, cooler environment.
Oxygen.
A natural filter for toxins in rainwater.
A place to throw a picnic blanket on a hot day.
I have learned that everyone who enjoys planting trees, and there are many, has their own reasons for wanting to.
Tree planting brings families together and demonstrates to young people the need to be proactive as we fight climate change.
It also brings communities together.
And, I have noticed, the weather does not keep volunteer tree planters from doing the job. Cold? Rain? Wind? Bring it on: Canadian tree planters show up and plant.
All of this is to say that we are having a lot of fun at Trees For Life and much of our fun comes from creating fun times for our supporters, like you.
Here is a link to 10 (and counting) planting events this fall where we would welcome you.
And if you would like to support our work with a cash donation note that we do provide tax receipts AND every dollar invested with us is matched by Natural Resources Canada through the Two Billion Tree program.
PLUS when we sign planting agreements our partners bring equal resources to the table.
You buy a tree for $150, and it is doubled and doubled again.
That is 4 trees.
I think this is a pretty good deal for any Canadian wanting to enhance our urban tree canopy.
For anyone looking for the #1 solution to climate change (according to Greta Thunberg, The Climate Book)
For anyone with kids or grand kids, who teaches kids, or has kids as neighbours.
For anyone with a generous heart and a vision for a brighter future.
Thank you for your commitment and support.
From the bottom of my heart,
Mark Cullen,
Chair, Trees For Life and the TFL Team
