TD TREE DAYS: Planting Native Trees and Shrubs in Mystic Vale Woods, UVic, Sept. 10, 2023!

Group photo of the amazing community members who joined us for this activity!

Thank you to our Incredible Community!

The Greater Victoria Green Team ran a TD Tree Day activity and engaged 37 community members from all over the Greater Victoria region to plant 272 native trees and shrubs in Mystic Vale Woods! This activity took place as part of the TD Ready Commitment a multi-year initiative to help open doors to a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow. This activity was one of more than 100 TD Tree Days happening across the continent this year.

Thank you to everyone for participating: Sabrina, Jennifer, Sabine, Bobby, Heather, Marcos, Siddharth, Cassandra, Ian, Theo, Mauricio, Cindy, Cici, Barbara, Andre, Hannah, Jeff, Spencer, Maria Teresa, Fernanda, Khaekhai, Guoliang (Lee), Kshrey, Spencer, Maya, Maria, Gordon, Treva, Aishwarya, Chloe, Layanna, and our TD site leaders Danielle and Moussa!

Thank you TD Tree Days and UVic!

This activity was made possible through funding from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation!

“TD Tree Days 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.” 

Thank you to the University of Victoria‘s Campus Planning and Sustainability department and the Facilities Management team for providing guidance, environmental expertise, and leaf mulch for this activity!

We have been working on restoring some of the natural areas around the university campus for years, removing many invasive plants. It was such a wonderful opportunity to continue the restoration work by planting native shrubs and trees in a forest that was once so full of invasive species!

Why We Do This Work

By being out in nature doing something positive as a team, our community members:

• Develop a sense of belonging to community and place
• Have improved mental and physical health
• Connect to nature, which leads to environmentally responsible behaviour
• Learn about local environmental issues and actions they can take
• Learn the value of bringing together people to work towards a common goal
• Become leaders in their communities
• Increase confidence, resilience and perseverance

Planting shrubs and trees is a great way to spend time together as a family! At this activity we were joined by many families who enjoyed giving back to the local environment together.

A great team effort was made to move a total of 2 cubic meters of mulch! We spread leaf mulch around the newly planted tress and shrubs to help retain moisture!

Moving this heavy mulch is a great way to work together as a team, building connections with each other and nature!

Community In Action!

It is so inspiring is seeing just how many people come out to plant in this forest! Community members of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds came together on Sunday to connect with each other and with nature. It is truly amazing to see so many people working together towards a goal, all while having fun and making new friends!

Miss Earth Canada, Layanna Robinson, joined us to help plant some trees & shrubs! Layanna has been volunteering a lot in our local community since winning the title last fall. She will be representing Canada at the international competition in Vietnam this year.

What Participants Are Saying…

“It was lovely to spend time outside in nature and getting to do this hands on work. Everyone was also really nice.”

Sabrina

“Extremely well organized, focused in terms of goal, enthusiastic (and lovely to be with) staff and volunteers. The work felt meaningful and valuable….Create[s] a greater sense of community through working and interacting with each other – something sadly lacking in our world and at the root of many of our social problems.”

Susanna

“It was a fun way to make a difference in the garden. It was a simple task and doing it with friends was great. You helped people connect with each other and to nature.Thank you so much for organizing this!!!””

Liv

Thank you to David and Donna of the Vancouver Island Commonwealth Society for stopping by to support the work of our team! David and Donna connected with Layanna Robinson, Miss Earth Canada, at this activity! Networking in nature is one the best ways to connect!

THANK YOU TO SATINFLOWER NURSERY

The 227 native shrubs and trees that were planted on this day were locally grown in the area and came from Satinflower nursery!

Satinflower Nursery is a locally owned and operated business that offers native plants and seeds as well as consultation knowledge! They are a fantastic local resource for native plants and even provide workshops! Learn more about Satinflower Nursery on their website HERE.

THANK YOU again to all of the incredible community members who spent their Sunday helping to restore the local environment!

 

This Activity was run by our Program Manager, Kaitlin (second from right), and our Program Coordinator, Severine (right). We ran this activity with our TD Tree Day site leaders Moussa (left) and Danielle (second from left). Thank you Moussa and Danielle for being awesome site leaders to help us ensure the activity ran smoothly and safely!