Add a tree to your yard

Tuesday is Earth Day.
The day has grown in importance around the world.
Groups get together and tackle clean up of beaches, shorelines, plant trees and work to make their communities better.
I enjoyed listening to CBC out of Toronto this past Sunday morning when they were talking about developing the urban forest. It preceded my going outside and doing some shrub and tree trimming in my yard.
Back in 1980 when a huge number of Elm trees with their majestic branches arching over streets died away, the Fort Frances Jaycees for two years put in place a program called the “Greening of Fort Frances”. Boise Cascade as the mill was then known came on board and financed the planting of the “Flowering Crabs” on Church Street and paid for the planting of the Basswood trees on the courtyard of the town hall.
The parks department went out of their way and made available to residents three types of trees, Ash, Maple and Basswood. Fort Frances residents were encouraged to plant those trees in their front yards or on their boulevards. The town allowed for special consideration to put the trees on the boulevards.
Today when you drive along second street, most of those trees that you see along the boulevard were planted at that time and are today are making the town more attractive.
In Toronto, to continue making new subdivisions attractive and to encourage tree planting in the city, the city makes available to citizens trees. The trees must be ordered in advance, and the city makes recommendations as to what species are most appropriate.
Walking through Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns in Australia and even Sydney, I was taken back by the park like atmosphere of those large urban centres. The Australians have spent a lot of time making their cities attractive with parks. I am told that Canberra is a city designed inside of a park.
We may say that we have lots of forests and trees surrounding us, but trees spread throughout the community offer wind buffers in the winter, a respite from the heat of the sun in summer for walkers strolling our streets.
If you walk along the river front in Fort Frances, you can’t help but notice what a difference those trees are already making in turning the area into a walking park. You can add to the park atmosphere of Fort Frances by adding a tree to your year this year. It is a great family day activity for Earth Day.
–Jim Cumming,
Publisher