Relief for ReLeaf after city-subsidized tree sales recover from late-season start

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This article was published 20/05/2022 (1268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two years ago, Erna Buffie bought two trees as a part of the city-funded ReLeaf program — an Amur cherry for her, a bur oak for her friend.

Today, her cherry tree is thriving; it requires lots of water, which she’s happy to provide, and while her yard is just big enough to support one tree, she’d plant six if she could, she said.

“It’s great, because we need to expand our canopy, we desperately need to expand our canopy, and one of the ways we can do that is to plant trees on private land,” she told the Free Press.

“From where I sit, everybody who owns a home in Winnipeg should have a tree on it.”

That’s why she — along with the organizers at non-profit Trees Winnipeg — was left puzzled as the program struggled to sell its stock this year after sell-out success previously.

The city-funded program, now in its sixth year, provides inexpensive trees to homeowners and has had massive success in prior years — selling out of their stock of 500 in the first four years and then doubling the supply in 2020 and 2021, promptly selling those, as well. This year, there were 1,300 available but sales stalled at 500, until Wednesday, when the group sent out a news release.

The remaining 800 are gone now. There were nine packages to choose from with one or two two-gallon locally grown trees in each package, which comes with a bag of mulch, trunk guards, and instructions from an arborist. The cost for all was $70.

ReLeaf is part of the city’s Million Tree Challenge — put in place last year with the goal of planting that many by the time the city’s population reaches the same number — and trees sold through the program are included in the count and subsidized by the city.

“One of the intents of the Million Tree Challenge is not only to plant trees, it’s to get people to plant the proper species in the right place and make sure it lives. So lots of people, when they buy a tree, really don’t know how to plant it, or where to put it, and the tree doesn’t survive,” Trees Winnipeg board member Matt Vinet said.

“So we’re hoping with proper instruction and good trees, and help with the selection, that will help people successfully plant trees… that live long, happy lives.”

A spokesperson for the city said, like many other slow-to-start municipal programs this year, the weather is to blame.

“The slow uptake on the ReLeaf Program this year was likely due to the late spring, and poor, overly saturated conditions as of late, as residents haven’t had good weather yet to get to work in their yards,” city communications co-ordinator Ken Allen said in an email.

City forester Martha Barwinsky said she couldn’t speculate on the number of trees the city would be cutting down this year, calling it a “moving target,” but the average number cut down from 2018-2020 was 6,200 per year (the city is still collecting data for 2021).

“It’s constantly changing on a daily basis, weekly basis,” she told the Free Press Friday.

About 1,300 dead and dying ash trees have been marked for removal this year as part of the city’s attempt to deal with the invasive emerald ash borer beetle invasion, she said.

In 2021, 7,800 elms were tagged to be cut down due to Dutch elm disease on both public and private property — most of those trees have been removed by now — and the surveillance program begins again next week, starting with firewood monitoring.

Tree removal occurs year-round, but the majority happens in the fall, winter and spring months. However, the city has begun removing more Dutch elm-infected trees in the summer in hopes of stopping spread before it starts.

From 2018-2020, on average, the city planted 1,800 trees — mostly replacements — on boulevards and in parks. This year, however, the forestry branch received additional funding in its operating budget from council and is hoping to plant 4,000, Barwinsky said.

The city’s planting program began this week. In a typical year, it runs from May 1 to Oct. 31.

While many private properties are ideal for planting, others aren’t.

“We follow the principle, and Trees Winnipeg does the same thing… right tree, right place. So there are properties where there just isn’t the adequate space and suitable conditions to plant a tree,” Barwinsky said.

Buffie loves her backyard tree, and she encouraged those on the fence to do their research on the climate, health and esthetic benefits.

“I remember a neighbour who said, ‘I can’t, I don’t want to plant trees, they’re messy.’ It’s like, ‘Well, do you want your house to be 10 degrees hotter than it would be if you planted a tree? Do you want to make sure all that water that builds up on your street from storm sewers gets absorbed?’” she said.

“There’s really powerful reasons to be planting trees. I mean, they’re good for your health, it makes you feel good, and it’s a beautiful feature in the yard.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca