On Saturday, May 7th, 2022 the Town of the Blue Mountains saw 100 volunteers planting tree seedlings along the Georgian Trail. Community members of all ages, from children to seniors, participated. Working in teams, they planted cedars, white pines, red oaks and native shrubs.
The effort was a huge success, with more than 300 seedlings planted along two sections of the Georgian Trail – near Northwinds Beach and at the 10th line. TBM staff matched the effort on Monday, May 9th, by planting another 300 seedlings.
The response from the community was overwhelming and demonstrated how residents from all over TBM can come together to support highly valued efforts like establishing a future tree canopy.
The event also demonstrated collaboration between the municipality and local community groups. “The degree of collaboration among the program partners has been exceptional”, said John White of the Thornbury-Clarksburg Rotary. “There has been strong synergy and benefit from Town of the Blue Mountains, Treetrust TBM and Thornbury-Clarksburg Rotary working together on this first-of-its-kind effort. Ryan Gibbons, Director of Community Services for TBM, saw the event as an important learning opportunity: “We did a lot of collaborative planning that helped make the event successful but we also learned a lot that will help us in future programs.”
Also notable was the extra care taken to improve the survivability of the seedlings. Volunteer team leaders attended a training seminar led by Arboreal Tree Care before the event. The focus was on ensuring that extra care was taken to dig planting holes suitable to the root ball of the seedlings and adding nutritious compost and water.
Over the summer, water tanks will remain in place and volunteers are encouraged to perform watering duties when they can, but especially during hot and dry weather.
