’Tis the season to celebrate trees as volunteers prepare for a second consecutive weekend spanning the community after tackling tree planting and invasive removal in Saanich and View Royal.
In total, 67 volunteers cleared eight cubic metres of invasive plant material and added 242 native trees to revitalize parks in the region last weekend.
The View Royal event Saturday (Oct. 21) was all about planting new as the Greater Victoria Green Team ran a TD Tree Day activity and engaged with 36 community members from all over Greater Victoria adding 242 native trees and shrubs in View Royal Park. It was one of more than 100 TD Tree Days happening across the continent this year.
Volunteers spent 54 hours helping restore the park, with 16 people introduced to the local greenspace, and 17 participating for the first time.
READ ALSO: ‘Green, clean, invasive plant-removal teams’: Victoria Green Team’s history
Work at the Bowker Creek headwaters in Saanich on Sunday (Oct. 22) focused on removing the bad. More than 30 volunteers spent 1,000 hours pulling roughly 50 bathtubs full of invasive plants and helping revitalize about 500 square metres of forest along 150 metres of the alumni chip trail at the University of Victoria.
The Greater Victoria Green Team noted eight people were pulling invasive for the first time and 20 were new to the park while 11 were UVic students.
The group hopes to introduce new people to places and activities again this weekend, with work on Saturday, Oct. 28 in Porcher Park, Langford from 9:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Sunday (Oct 29) on a land covenant owned by The Land Conservancy of BC (4394 Lochside Dr.) from 9:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Visit greenteamscanada.ca or find them on Facebook to learn how to participate.
Training, tools, gloves and snacks are provided.