Pickering brings trees to the city

A rather bare corner in Pickering will soon be lush and green thanks to a $15,000 grant awarded to the City.

Pickering was one of 23 recipients of the 2011 TD Green Streets program, run in partnership by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and Tree Canada. The funding will go toward a small arboretum that will contain 26 different species of native deciduous and coniferous trees and shrubs, located at Finch Avenue and Rosebank Road, currently called Sequin Park.

"The staff here are excited that it's going to go ahead and are looking forward to working with the community and making it come to fruition," said Arnold Mostert, Pickering's co-ordinator of landscape and parks development.

The City had been preparing for this grant for the past couple of years with help from the Altona Forest Stewardship Committee. They figured it would be a great legacy to leave for 2011 Pickering's bicentennial.

"We're currently doing our urban forest study and strategy as well," Mr. Mostert said. "We're trying to get the public to buy into importance of trees in the urban area."

The grants were open to municipalities, business improvement areas and First Nations communities across Canada. Mary Desjardins, executive director of the Friend of the Environment Foundation, said out of a stack of more than 100 applications, Pickering's stood out because of the community involvement aspect.

"They're actively involved in local schools and community organizations in the planting of the trees and in the ongoing care and maintenance," she said.

Mr. Mostert said plans include labeling all of the species and to have a sign at the park explaining them. What can't fit on the sign will go online. Also, since there are 26 schools in Pickering, Mr. Mostert hopes each will care for one of the 26 trees.

Ms. Desjardins said plans include encouraging schools to use the space for scientific studies, as an outdoor classroom, where the students can learn about trees such as red maple and white birch, and native shrubs such as winterberry.

She added the arboretum can also be a tool for homeowners to visit and get ideas on the types of trees and shrubs they'd like to plant on their own properties.

The City hopes to set up a planting date sometime in mid-September, and Mr. Mostert said a name change might be in order, possibly calling it Bicentennial Arboretum.

The TD Friend of the Environment and Tree Canada teamed up about a year ago to create the project. TD has provided more than $54 million to more than 19,500 grassroots environment and wildlife projects across Canada since 1990. Tree Canada, a not-for-profit charitable organization, engages Canadian companies, government agencies and individuals to support planting trees, greening schoolyards, and other efforts to promote the benefits of trees.