Home Grown Grant helps Trees Riverview Catch up on Canopy Gaps
by Ryan Coates & Wendy Botkin
In 2024, Trees Riverview (TR) continued to work on restoring the tree canopy on public spaces in our neighbourhood. Thanks to the City of Winnipeg’s Home Grown Grant program, TR planted 30 new boulevard trees on Oakwood, Baltimore, Ashland and Balfour Avenues in July, focusing on high traffic areas near Osborne Street. Almost half (14) were planted within the first block off of Osborne (east to Hay Street), with eight more on the next two blocks, and the final eight filling in gaps on Oakwood and Baltimore east of Fisher Park. These trees will supplement the City’s Urban Forestry Branch (UFB) planting, and grow to reconnect the gaps in the elm canopy.
To improve the overall resilience of the canopy to pests and disease, TR ensured that a diversity of species were planted in place of the previous American Elms. The new trees include shade trees like American linden, and Admiration oak, smaller ornamental trees like Showy Starlite crabapple, and others recommended by the City’s Urban Forestry Branch.
The trees were planted under contract with Green Drop. As with all our plantings, Green Drop will maintain and water the trees for two years to ensure their successful establishment.
The 2024 planting means a total of 114 trees have been planted on Riverview boulevards as a result of TR’s efforts since the group’s inception in 2020. In our first planting in April 2021, a total of 55 trees were planted along Baltimore Rd east of Fisher Park, and on Arnold Avenue between Churchill High and Eccles. In the fall of 2022, 29 trees were planted along Oakwood, Bartlett, and Montague Avenues. Another 15 trees were planted near the bus loop on Riverview Community Centre grounds due to the gift of an anonymous donor. This fall brought the maintenance contract for these 2022 trees to a close. At the close of the contract, Trees Riverview conducted a thorough walkthrough with the contractor to confirm the health of the trees. As a result, a few of these trees will be replaced to ensure the quantity and quality of the trees remain.
Trees Riverview has applied for funding for tree planting in 2025, hoping we can again contribute to efforts to keep up with the ongoing loss of trees in our neighbourhood, supplementing the city’s own replanting projects in Riverview. In the meantime, the following photos remind us that slowly but surely we’re making progress!
A beautiful elm is marked for removal (2020)
The tree comes down in Winter 2020.
A new triumph elm (Dutch Elm Disease Resistant) is planted in April 2021 in its place - Trees Riverview’s first planting project in the midst of COVID times.
That little tree is now thriving and over 20 feet tall! (Nov 2024)
Trees Riverview’s purpose is to protect, restore, and enhance the public tree canopy in our neighbourhood. Check out other pages on our website, or contact us at TreesRiverview@gmail.com to add your name to our email distribution list. We’d be happy to hear from you if you have questions or suggestions or if you would consider a financial contribution (Note: TR is not able to issue a receipt for charitable tax purposes).
