CORNWALL, Ontario – Around 60 volunteers came out Gray’s Creek on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018 to plant 300 trees and brushes along Cornwall’s waterfront.
TD Tree Days has been organized by the Raisin Region Conservation Authority (RRCA) and TD Bank since 2015.
Since the event began three years ago more than 3,000 trees have been planted. This was the first time that trees were not planted on Gray’s Creek property, instead, the trees were planted on a nearby strip of land near the waterfront owned by the City of Cornwall.
“I’ve been after them for a number of years to extend our buffer zone onto their property,” said Norman Genier, Forestry Specialist with the RRCA. “Right now the City is looking to reduce mode costs, so now turned into a good time.”
Genier is referring to the City of Cornwall scaling back some of its grass cutting efforts in some areas due to budgetary concerns.
“Letting a site naturalize can lead to invasive species,” said Genier. “These trees are all local species and will provide shade that will help prevent that.”
There were 15 different species of trees that were being planted by the volunteers on Saturday, including some edible ones such as elderberry and sumac.
