Order trees by September 30 for fall planting
Landowners plant tens of thousands of trees each year in Ausable Bayfield watersheds
Planting of trees offers benefits to individual properties and wider community; Forestry specialist says autumn is good time to plant trees
Autumn begins on Sunday, September 22, 2024. Autumn is a time to give thanks and to celebrate the harvest. It’s also a great time to order trees for planting, according to Ian Jean, Forestry and Land Stewardship Specialist with Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA).
Spring and fall are both good times to plant trees, Jean said. “Weather cools in these seasons,” he said. “While trees are in dormancy in fall or spring, they are better able to handle the stress of transplanting.”
People in the Ausable Bayfield watershed area can order trees until Friday, September 20, 2024 using the tree order form file on the tree orders web page. They may also order trees in person at the ABCA office, or by phone at 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610, accompanied by payment, until Monday, September 30, 2024.
The Forestry and Land Stewardship Specialist encourages interested landowners to give him a call at 519-235-2610 or toll-free 1-888-286-2610 to discuss planting projects.
“We’re happy to help with project design and help to apply for funding for eligible projects,” he said. There is a cost to order trees through the fall tree planting program but there may be incentive grants available for some tree planting projects. Cost-share funding may be available dependent on the type and size of project, location and specific program details.
Certain trees, types of planting stock, and locations are better suited than others to fall planting. “Frost heaving can be a problem for fall planting of very small, bare-root seedlings, which are available in spring,” Jean said. “In the fall, we handle only larger trees in pots or in root-ball-in-burlap format and we have good success planting those larger-size trees.”
The two-foot Cedar and Spruce are great choices for field windbreaks and watercourse buffers. The potted deciduous trees can be planted to add diversity to help make forests more resilient to future environmental pressures across the watershed. Properties, landowner goals, and projects are all unique, which makes it important to plan tree planting projects on an individual basis for site success, staff say. However, what all tree planting and other stewardship projects have in common, is their contribution towards watershed health, providing benefits which extend beyond the limits of the project site itself.
Local landowners plant tens of thousands of trees each year through spring and fall tree order programs.
“Each individual project is part of larger, cooperative effort,” Jean said. “Each year this involves hundreds of people planting tens of thousands of trees, maintaining watercourse buffers, planting cover crops, and each doing their part to protect and improve watershed conditions. I really want to recognize the tremendous support for watershed stewardship within our community.”
Tree planting provides benefits to individual properties and also to the wider watershed community. “People who plant trees see benefits at the property scale in wind protection, and more shade, birds and wildlife,” he said. “The benefits, to individuals, of planting trees, extend to the entire watershed community in protecting our shared soil and water resources and improving the resiliency of our natural systems which face new pests and a changing climate.”
Ausable Bayfield Conservation thanks those who support, and contribute towards, improving watershed conditions. These include federal, provincial, county and municipal partners as well as agencies and private donors.