Skip to content

Students work hard to help plant three hundred trees

A few days off from the original planting date, the City of Stratford, Stratford District Secondary School, and Upper Thames River Conservation Authority planted a number of trees on Thursday
chloebellkatelynhernandez
Chloe Bell and Kathryn Hernandez getting their hands dirty as they participate in a tree planting.

After hearing about a lack of participants for planting trees, Rhonda Menhennet’s Grade nine geography class at Stratford District Secondary School (SDSS) had a solution. 

SDSS students got their hands dirty Thursday, as they assisted the City of Stratford in tree planting for Earth Day – albeit a few days later than planned due to inclement weather. 

Menhennet said that she is always on the lookout for experiential learning opportunities and when she heard of a tree planting event she jumped at the chance. 

Students gathered around at a location close to Lorne Avenue and O’Loane Avenue. 

Vanni Azzano, community education supervisor for the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA), assisted with planting. He told StratfordToday that planting trees is vital for the health of the watershed. 

“Planting trees is the easiest bang for your buck,” Azzano said. 

Earlier this year, UTRCA released report cards on the 28 watersheds within its jurisdiction, including the Avon River watershed surrounding Stratford. 

While having slightly improved since 2017, the forest conditions in the watershed received a D grade. 

One of the local actions to improve this grade is to plant a diverse array of trees. 

Three hundred trees were brought for the Earth Day planting, including white pine, white spruce, white cedar, red maple, sugar maple, silver maple, paper birch, and red oak. 

Azzano said that by planting diverse species, the area will better adapt to local climate, pests, and diseases.

The original tree planting was supposed to take place on Earth Day, April 22, though a rain forecast meant that it would not be possible, as Sadaf Ghalib, the City’s climate change programs manager told StratfordToday. 

A similar forecast the next weekend meant that they had to schedule the planting during the week, and the various businesses that signed up to help would not be able to anymore, prompting the SDSS class to step up.

Azzano led the students in how to properly plant the trees – how deep to dig the holes, how far to plant them from each other, and how to make sure they are secured enough.

When asked if they will get gloves, Azzano cheerfully said no.

“You’ll get your hands dirty.” 

Accelerating in the future 

Over the course of this week the City of Stratford, the UTRCA, and other local organizations have planted ten times more trees than the City committed to. 

For Earth Day Canada’s Mobilizing Municipalities Campaign, the City committed to planting 50 trees. After yesterday, they are on track to have planted about 500, after a scouts group planted 200 on Monday.

Ghalib said that Earth Day efforts are a good start, though she hopes to accelerate those efforts in the many Earth Days to come.