TD Tree Days Native Tree & Shrub Planting at Ruth Johnson Park, White Rock – September 17, 2023
Highlights From The Day
- 43 volunteers, including TD staff from local branches, their families, and members of the community, joined us and contributed 90 hours total!
- Thank you so much for your efforts and enthusiasm: Aaron, Alyssa, Anika, Aubree, Berlina, Bahram, Christian, Craig, Diljot, Divi, Gary, Geoff, Gieleen, Gillian, Himanshu, Iris, Isha, Jackie, Jag, Jan, Jasnoor, Kathryn, Kenny, Kirsten, Lucas, Marco, Mhairi, Michael, Mitra, Nazuk, Pallavi, Rachel, Roop, Rupali, Sandeep, Sara, Sean, Starr, Shelley, Tashi, Tushar, Yunzhen and Ziba!
- 31 people visited Ruth Johnson Park for the first time
- 24 people planted trees and shrubs for the first time
- Together our team:
- Planted 300 native trees and shrubs in areas that were previously covered in invasive plants
- Our Green Team has been removing invasive plants from this area of the park since 2021!
- Species planted included Big-leaf maple, Vine maple, Douglas fir, Salmonberry, Snowberry, Oceanspray, Red elderberry, Baldhip rose, Indian plum, Red-flowering currant, Salal and Tall Oregon grape
- Removed 1 cubic metre (6 bathtubs) of invasive English ivy and English holly
- Jan, Gary, Yunzhen and Jennifer for staying after we were done planting to remove invasive plants!
- Planted 300 native trees and shrubs in areas that were previously covered in invasive plants
- Scroll down to see before and after photos, as well as some in-action shots!
- This was a TD Tree Days event made possible thanks to funding and leadership from TD, and support and expertise from the City of White Rock!
Before & After Photos
Below are invasive plant removal before and afters, taken by Jan!
Below are what the areas we planted looked like before our Green Team started removing invasive plants from them in 2021!
Why Do We Do This Work?
The Lower Mainland Green Team organizes hands-on educational activities that have a positive environmental impact to empower people. Through activities such as invasive plant removals, plantings, litter cleanups and more, we are fostering connections with others and nature so that health and well-being is prioritized, lifelong environmental stewardship is promoted, and community members are enabled to take care of themselves, each other and the places they live. We all have the power to make a difference!
We all experience mental and physical health benefits from spending time in nature, including reduced stress and anxiety, and improved mood, focus, memory and more. While doing so, we can also have a positive impact on the environment as demonstrated through this activity!
TD Tree Days
This TD Tree Days event was made possible thanks to funding support from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation!
Special thanks to our TD Site Leaders, Mhairi MacLeod and Sandeep Jhutty, for their leadership and work before and during this event to ensure its success!
TD Tree Days is a flagship volunteer program of the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and aims to provide TD colleagues, their friends and family, and community members, the opportunity to volunteer to help build healthier communities by planting trees and shrubs in urban and rural greenspaces. With the generous support of volunteers and TD colleagues each year, this urban greening program supports the goal of TD to elevate the quality of the environment to help people and economies thrive.
This year, TD is working together with 80 community-based organizations to plant over 30,000 trees and shrubs across Canada and within the U.S. communities where they operate. This will help add to the more than 490,000 trees & shrubs that volunteers have planted through TD Tree Days since 2010, contributing to their goal of planting 1 million trees & shrubs by 2030!
Thank You!
Thank you to the City of White Rock for their continued partnership and their support and expertise to make this event the success it was!
Justin selected the best native trees and shrubs for this local park and supported the coordination of this event.
Jamie and Jennifer joined us to place our trees and shrubs to ensure appropriate spacing and light conditions, to give a planting demonstration, and share their ecological expertise!
Our charity, Green Teams of Canada, has been working with the City of White Rock for over 10 years at Ruth Johnson Park! Together we are achieving our common goals and creating connected, healthy and resilient communities engaged in environmental stewardship.
In-Action Photos
In-Kind Supporters
Thank you to the following businesses for donating items to thank our amazing volunteers:
- Tru Earth for providing Laundry Detergent Strips
- Kicking Horse Coffee for providing ground coffee
- Life UNpacked for providing reusable bamboo rounds
Activity Led By
This activity was led by the Lower Mainland Green Team‘s Program Manager Ashton Kerr (left) TD Site Leaders, Sandeep Jhutty (middle) and Mhairi MacLeod (right).