Article content
The City of Selkirk is making the community a whole lot greener and healthier by planting hundreds of new trees this spring, it said in a press release.
Article content
The city located about 25 kilometres north of Winnipeg said it is continuing its work to create an “urban canopy,” and as part of that work will plant 260 trees on medians and boulevards along the city’s Main Street and in other areas this spring.
Article content
The trees will be “interspersed” amongst existing trees, but will also be replacing older ones the city says have come to or are nearing the end of their natural lives. Trees will also be planted on boulevards in other areas throughout the city where no trees currently exist.
According to Selkirk’s urban forestry and naturalization coordinator Justin Torcia, benefits from an abundance of trees in communities include beautification, protecting infrastructure from heat and UV, helping to absorb stormwater runoff, lowering carbon and pollutants to improve air quality and providing habitat for birds and small mammals.
Article content
“Following Selkirk’s street tree policy to increase tree species diversity, there will be approximately 18 different species planted on the medians and boulevards,” Torcia said. “This will ensure that no single area will be stripped of trees if an invasive pest or disease is introduced to our community, as we’ve seen with Dutch Elm Disease and Emerald Ash Borer.”
Torica added the city’s street tree policy, which was passed by council, lists criteria that help determine where trees should be planted in Selkirk, including areas where the land drainage system is over capacity, streets with less than eight trees per 100 metres, and whether the street is a main artery, collector, or residential street.
The policy also considers streets with household incomes less than the average household income for Selkirk, as the city said “studies show lower-income neighbourhoods typically have less of an urban canopy to help stay cool in the warmer months of the year.”
The planting of 260 trees in Selkirk began on May 15 and is expected to wrap up in June.
— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
Share this article in your social network