Blog  August 30, 2011

A sea of red brings some more green to parks across Canada

The volunteer group at Humber Bay Park West (Photo: Mike Derblich)

Evergreen and the Molson Canadian Red Leaf Project teamed up this summer for a series of park restoration projects from coast to coast. Canadians across the country came out in force to clean up, plant and weed out their local parks. Just like all the other park projects, the latest event, in Toronto’s west end, was a great success.

In partnership with the City of Toronto, we hosted a group of 48 community volunteers in Humber Bay Park West on a humid summer day to remove invasive plant species, and distribute mulch to newly planted Sumac trees. Mulch helps to improve the soil quality, prevents weeds from growing around young trees, and retains moisture after a rainfall.

Gathering mulch (Photo: Mike Derblich)

Since the park is close to the shores of Lake Ontario, it is subject to harsh winds and intense weather conditions throughout the year, which can result in dry, poor quality soil. The efforts of all our volunteers will go a long way in helping these new Sumacs survive.

Volunteers pick up garbage on the beach (Photo: Mike Derblich)

In total, our group removed four garbage bags of litter and nine yard-waste bags of invasive species (Purple Vetch and Thistle), and applied mulch to over 400 native trees. The enthusiasm of the volunteers was very impressive, and the park looked amazing upon completion!