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The St. Clair Region Conservation Authority is accepting tree orders from landowners for the upcoming planting season until March 25.
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The authority has assisted rural landowners with ordering trees, tree planting services and controlling weed competition around newly planted trees since 1980, a news release said. The authority has continued this in association with private tree nurseries that specialize in seedling stock trees.
“The tree seedlings produced today are much hardier seedling stock compared to 20 years ago,” Steve Shaw, manager of conservation services at the SCRCA, said in the release.
“All of our coniferous (evergreen) trees are produced and sold as transplanted seedlings that will tolerate many of the harsh site conditions and extreme weather we experience today. Landowners are also getting a thicker caliper tree with a more developed root system which provides a higher survival rate than before.”
Deciduous tree species grown from seeds collected from native tree species in the authority’s jurisdiction are also available.
The release said the conservation authority’s forest cover is 10 per cent, which is too low to sustain the health of the watershed, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The SCRCA reports planting approximately 60,000 trees each year, plus the thousands of trees ordered by landowners who plant them on their own.
The authority also offers financial incentives through provincial and federal grant programs for planting windbreaks, establishing buffer strips and establishing tree plantations for wildlife habitat.
“Over the past two years, many of our watershed residents discovered the forested trails in our local conservation areas,” Shaw said. “The mature trees along these trails are there for people to enjoy because of the thousands of tree seedlings we planted many years ago.”
Tree orders can be made online at shop.scrca.on.ca/order-trees.