Thirsty trees need your help, says City of Vancouver

Have you noticed the foliage in your neighbourhood looking a little wilted as of late?

The Vancouver Park Board has, and says it is particularly worried about young sapling trees in the city that are in need of a drink.

The city has made attempts over the years to increase its urban canopy, with thousands of newly-planted trees now lining the city’s streets.

But those young trees are also particularly vulnerable to prolonged, dry heat said director of parks Howard Normann.

“People can usually see the leaves start to curl a little bit, they’re not that healthy green. Those are the ones we’re talking about,” said Normann.

The city is now asking residents to step in and lend a helping hand by watering trees that appear to be in distress.

“If they can give it four or five minutes. Our water bags just do a slow drip in the ground so they don’t need to sit there for a half an hour, just give it a nice soaking and that’s good enough.”

The city introduced slow-release watering bags for newly-planted trees in 2015, which the public are also invited to fill with their garden hoses.

Since then, Normann said the bags have been added to nearly 4,000 of the some 140,000 street trees that make up Vancouver’s “urban forest.”

The city has a goal of adding another 150,000 trees by 2020.