“It’s great for the businesses. There’s actual science that
will show that people will spend more money while they’re
shopping if they’re shopping on a street that’s lined with trees
because it changes the whole ambience and experience,” says
Paul Giroux, Windsor’s City Forester. “People in hospital
rooms will actually recover more quickly if they have a
window where they can look out and see trees. Trees make
people feel good so it’s more than just good for the
environment, it’s actually good for the soul as well.”
Aside from the emotional
aspect and environmental
aspect, Giroux says planting
trees can save people money.
If planted strategically,
cooling costs can go down in
the summer, and in the
winter, heating costs can
decrease.
Giroux is hoping to plant
between 800 and 1,000 large
balled and burlapped trees
this year throughout various
neighbourhoods and parks in Windsor to diversify the current
tree situation. Just like all living things in nature, trees live and
die. Giroux says it is only a matter of time before the current
tree population decays. Planting the 800 trees that are a little
younger will make the “urban forest” well-balanced, with
younger trees to replace the older ones when they are gone.
Through Windsor’s Annual Arbor Week Program, other tree
planting efforts will occur, such as planting 2,000 trees on City
ground at McHugh Street and Florence Avenue for Earth Day.
The City of Windsor will also partner with ERCA and Forests
Ontario to have 200 large-stock potted trees planted on May 2
at Lakeshore Woods. The City of Windsor will also be handing
out free seedlings at Lanspeary Park this spring.
And then there’s the forest regeneration efforts in
Windsor, where places like Memorial Park were once well-kept
and impeccably groomed. But with that upkeep, the City of
Windsor would mow away any opportunity for growth - tree
growth, that is.
As a result, the City of Windsor designated an area of the
park for “regeneration” - it let the seeds, saplings and other
plants grow untended and sheltered from mowers. At the time,
neighbourhood reception was not always positive about this
wild forest growing in the middle of their neighbourhood.
There were complaints about teen bush parties, trash
dumping and the unsightly view.
But what seemed to be untamed and raggedy to some was
an opportunity for natural beauty for others.
“It’s natural,” says Rob Plackmann, a resident who has
Planting trees
can save
people money
More than 1000 people join ERCA to plant
trees on Earth Day 2014