All things trees will be in the spotlight, or at the very least in the\u00a0sunlight on\u00a0Sunday, June 7th.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arbor Day will be held in Morden Park from 1:00 \u2013 5:00 PM, with fun activities for all ages, and no cost to attend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mordan’s Urban Forest Manager<\/p>\n
Jeff Guenter is the Urban Forestry Manager for The City of Morden.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stopped by The Eagle\u00a093.5 to speak with\u00a0morning show host\u00a0Jayme Giesbrecht about the celebration, and there may have been an\u00a0unintended tree pun\u00a0early on\u00a0in that conversation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Giesbrecht commented how smiling and chipper Guenter appeared\u00a0to be,\u00a0so early in the morning,\u00a0Woodchipper?\u00a0Maybe just\u00a0a chance choice of\u00a0description?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Well, let\u2019s leaf that for now, and get into the conversation.\u00a0Fair warning \u2013 there may be an intentional tree pun in Guenter\u2019s former company\u2019s name…\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked in the private tree sector for One Two Tree Service, our local tree company, they’re out of Morden.\u201d Gunter\u00a0shared. \u201cI worked for them for a little over 14 years. Lots of removals and lots of tree trimming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo\u00a0that’s\u00a0kind-of\u00a0where I came from.\u00a0I’ve\u00a0been doing that for a long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We’re gonna need a bigger axe…<\/p>\n
The biggest tree Guenter\u00a0ever had to remove was substantial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve removed probably 100-foot cottonwood trees.\u201d he recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arbor Day 2024<\/p>\n
Urban Forestry in Morden covers a lot of\u00a0tasks\u00a0and\u00a0territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now we’re in our tree planting time.\u201d\u00a0Gunter\u00a0explained.\u00a0\u201cWe actually plant a ton of trees.\u00a0We\u00a0try\u00a0to plant usually\u00a0a few 100 trees every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u00a0have a list of approved tree species that we like to plant on our boulevards.\u00a0We like the trees\u00a0to grow\u00a0big.\u00a0We want to encourage our tree canopy to grow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bigger is better<\/p>\n
Even elsewhere, bigger is better for trees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo,\u00a0little fruit trees, as nice as they are and as nice as they smell for\u00a0a short time, they\u00a0don’t increase the tree canopy the way we would like it to.\u201d Guenter shared. \u201cWe like to encourage residents, if they want to do that, to plant them in their own yard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen\u00a0we want\u00a0them\u00a0to plant something\u00a0that’ll\u00a0grow bigger.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Morden offers a wide variety of trees, and Guenter\u2019s been involved in growing that inventory.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the common ones, we\u00a0have\u00a0Oak trees,\u00a0Ash and\u00a0Elm.\u201d Guenter\u00a0itemized.\u00a0\u201cWe’ve\u00a0planted quite a few\u00a0Hackberry trees,\u00a0lots of\u00a0Linden trees.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who knew – there’s a differerence<\/p>\n
You may have looked at hundreds of trees in your lifetime, but you may not have been aware that there are male and female trees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are male and female, because you’ll notice, actually in my backyard, I have some Manitoba Maple trees.\u201d Guenter noted. \u201cSome of them\u00a0seed,\u00a0and some of them\u00a0don’t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The male ones seed. When you have allergies in the springtime,\u00a0it’s\u00a0the male trees that are causing those allergies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s definitely pollen season right now.\u201d Guenter confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arbor Day 2024<\/p>\n
Arbor Day is fast approaching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is coming up on Sunday.\u201d Guenter advised. \u201cIt’s a day to remind us to just be outside in nature, celebrate trees, and then just a little bit on the importance of protecting the environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to have a day that promotes that, celebrates that, and just have some fun doing it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trees and dogs – a match made in heaven<\/p>\n
Part of the celebration includes free hot dogs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the\u00a0councillors\u00a0from Morden will be there cooking them up for you, handing them out.\u201d\u00a0Guenter shared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe start at 1:00 PM and run until 5:00 PM. \u00a0We\u00a0have more nurseries\u00a0that’ll\u00a0come and do a shrub pruning demo.\u00a0There is\u00a0face\u00a0painting.\u00a0We’ll\u00a0have a whole art table for the kids.\u00a0We will have a tree planting.\u00a0I will plant a tree, so\u00a0if someone wants to\u00a0actually learn\u00a0how to plant\u00a0them\u00a0the way we plant\u00a0them,\u00a0I would encourage you to follow me to where\u00a0we’re\u00a0going to plant.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Related stories:<\/p>\n
Important to know where to plant<\/p>\n
There is a specific\u00a0way to plant a tree to make sure that it situates properly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is.\u201d\u00a0Guenter\u00a0explained. Their survival rate will be a lot better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For this event, Guenter is branching out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFun fact,\u00a0I’m\u00a0actually hoping\u00a0our tree planting this year will be with a tree that has never been planted before in the\u00a0Pembina\u00a0Valley.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arbor Day 2024
\nGoing up<\/p>\n
One Two Tree will\u00a0provide\u00a0an\u00a0elevated\u00a0arborist\u00a0opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to hop in a bucket and see how high those guys can go when\u00a0they’re cutting the trees down,\u00a0come\u00a0on\u00a0down,\u00a0they’ll\u00a0be giving free rides.\u201d Guenter said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShane Freeman,\u00a0he’s\u00a0a gentleman from Brandon.\u00a0He’s actually going to come and show us how to properly climb trees with ropes and everything else.\u00a0I’m\u00a0actually looking\u00a0forward to that because personally\u00a0I’ve\u00a0never actually seen it done that way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Repurposing lumber<\/p>\n
For tree usage beyond planting, a portable sawmill will be on site.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have some guys from Tinker Creek that are going to bring their personal sawmill to the\u00a0park,\u00a0and\u00a0we’re\u00a0going to provide them with some big logs.\u201d\u00a0Guenter\u00a0shared. \u201cThey’re going to mill them into boards for us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u00a0see\u00a0that process,\u00a0repurposing\u00a0lumber.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arbor Day takes place in\u00a0Morden Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the west\u00a0side,\u00a0where it’s nice and shady.\u201d Guenter advised.\u201d I think\u00a0it’s\u00a0important to realize how important trees are.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Arbor Day was set up as a day to plant trees specifically. I think\u00a0it’s a good way\u00a0to encourage people to help beautify their properties, beautify the community, and spend\u00a0some time outside together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Special activity for kids<\/p>\n
There will be a kid-specific element to the day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we have an art contest with the school.\u201d\u00a0Guenter\u00a0explained. \u201cWe’re going to display all the artwork that the kids have sent to us,\u00a0nd\u00a0we’re\u00a0going to end up picking some winners.\u00a0I don’t know when, but we’ve actually\u00a0picked\u00a0the winners already.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an age group of\u00a0kindergarten\u00a0to\u00a0Grade 2, so\u00a0the artwork is\u00a0very different.\u00a0It’s very fun to see what the kids come up with, actually.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arbor Day 2024<\/p>\n
The winners\u00a0will be\u00a0announced shortly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think\u00a0we’re going to go to the\u00a0schools\u00a0first thing next week.\u201d\u00a0Guenter\u00a0suggested.\u00a0We have some prizes that are going to be provided by\u00a0Giant\u00a0Tiger,\u00a0who’s\u00a0also\u00a0providing\u00a0the hot dog lunch. Then the winner of the art contest\u00a0will\u00a0get the opportunity to have myself come to their school and plant a tree for them there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
First-timer<\/p>\n
This will be\u00a0Guenter\u2019s first Arbor Day in\u00a0his role as\u00a0Urban\u00a0Forestry\u00a0Manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s\u00a0busy, but it’s fun.\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0commented.\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0go out with our seasonal staff and help them as well.\u00a0Between going to residents’ houses when they have questions and helping\u00a0plant.\u00a0Then we have our elm injection season that comes in the middle of July.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I have\u00a0time, I get into my own\u00a0removals, pruning\u00a0and\u00a0those kinds of projects\u00a0that I need to do as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arbor Day takes place\u00a0Sunday, June 7th at Morden Park, from 1-5 PM.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For all the activities and details, visit Morden.ca<\/a>, and click on Events<\/a>\u00a0or the\u00a0Arbor Day links on the homepage.\u00a0<\/p>\n with files from Jayme Giesbrecht<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All things trees will be in the spotlight, or at the very least in the\u00a0sunlight on\u00a0Sunday, June 7th.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-720136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}