Blogs

This fall, LEAF helped grow the urban forest in Durham Region by planting over 750 native trees and shrubs on public land. We partnered with the Township of Whitby to complete our first naturalization planting project in Whitby’s Rosedale Park. Our Naturalization Assistant, Elina Shahmirian, reflects on their planting experience.

Have you ever wondered which trees live in your neighbourhood? Is there a tree that you walk past every day and wish you knew what its name was? We hosted a virtual tree tour that explored some of the common and unique tree species that live in Richmond Hill. Here we highlight some of our favourite species and easy tree ID tips.

Fall is here but don’t pack away your garden hose just yet! Newly planted trees should be watered throughout the fall season up until the ground freezes. Fall watering supports root development in newly planted trees and helps evergreen trees combat the stress of winter conditions.

One of the major issues facing urbanized areas today is an abundance of stormwater runoff flowing into waterways. Buildings, roads and compacted urban soils create hard surfaces generating a greater amount of runoff than on undisturbed or undeveloped surfaces. As a result, urban infrastructure can become overwhelmed during storm events with high volumes of precipitation, leading to increased flooding, soil erosion and pollutants in our waterways.