In celebration of Arbor Day tomorrow, the City of St. Thomas Parks Department has announced that they will be giving 165 potted trees away to residents.
This unique giveaway will take place beside the Parks Department office in Pinafore Park, where a number of city staff will be available to provide planting/care information and demonstrations.
The potted trees can be picked up between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., while supplies last. Free mulch will be available on site, however residents must supply their own container.
The giveaway was made possible through the Estate of Donna Evans Bushell and the Evans Tree Fund, which looks to support tree planting projects across St. Thomas and Elgin County.
The city also shared this week that St. Thomas has been recognized as one of 50 new Tree Cities of the World for 2022 and is one of just 21 other Canadian cities with this recognition.
More details can be found below…
Tree Cities of the World was founded in 2019 by the Arbor Day Foundation, the world’s largest non-profit membership organization dedicated to planting trees and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
The Tree Cities of the World program is a global effort to recognize cities and towns committed to ensuring that their urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed, and celebrated.
St. Thomas was selected because of its commitment to meet the following program criteria:
• establish responsibility for the care of trees
• set rules to govern the management of forests and trees
• maintain an updated inventory or assessment of local tree resources
• allocate resources for a tree management plan, and
• hold an annual celebration of trees to educate residents
Written by: K. Freeman
