Project type: Schools
Year: 2017
Season: Spring
On May 3, 2017, ReForest London visited St Paul Catholic School to plant 15 new schoolyard trees with students. We were thrilled to see the sun after a very rainy week, and students loved being outside and participating in this unique greening project!
Each class that participated in planting also took part in discussions about the benefits of trees and London’s history as the Forest City, and they also enjoyed showing off their tree knowledge chops by identifying lots of native tree species.
Seven large trees and eight smaller trees were planted in the schoolyard to provide shade and beauty. We selected trees that were well suited for this often damp site, including Sycamore, Red Maple and Basswood. In total, 105 students from grades 4 to 8 came out to plant. Many of the kids had never planted trees before and enjoyed this opportunity. In drier parts of the schoolyard, we also planted Bur Oak, Hackberry and Freeman’s Maple. This fantastic variety of native trees will help to enhance our urban forest for years to come. The line of alternating Hackberry and Freeman Maple trees along another fence will be especially stunning in the autumn, and students are excited about witnessing the beautiful fall colours that will appear.
Little Creek Tree Farm provided us with our large trees. Tom and Chris also remained on site to assist in planting. The kids always love to work with Little Creek staff and particularly enjoy watching the large trees being lifted off the truck by crane and wheeled in on the tree cart. We thank Little Creek for their continued support of our mission. We also planted 8 smaller trees, supplied by St. Williams Nursery & Ecology Center.
Thank you to the Government of Ontario (through the Ontario 150 Partnerships Program), the Ontario Trillium Foundation and CN EcoConnexions for supporting planting projects through our School Community Tree Challenge this year.