It’s National Tree Day and the Forest City is staying true to its namesake by giving away free trees to Londoners.
Tasha Cull and her two boys made their way to Exeter Road Operations Centre Wednesday morning in hopes of finding the perfect tree.
“I need something shady in my front yard for the boys. I figured a free tree would be perfect,” she said.
After checking out a few different trees, Cull decided on the sugar maple.
“They were very helpful in telling me what I would need for my front yard. I didn’t want something too big cause our yard isn’t very big. Something with low maintenance,” she said.
Reforest London is offering 25 different species of trees, including four kinds of apple trees, two kinds of pear trees, and one peach tree.
Helping out with today’s free tree giveaways was Jaclyn Ramsay a forestry technologist with the city of London. She says if you want a tree, but don’t know what to look for, they can help you out.
“We have tree specialists on site that are knowledgeable and they’re helping people figure out the best tree for their home. Right tree, right place. We’re looking at soil conditions, light availability, how much water the tree’s going to get, and we help them select a tree based on those things,” she said.
Asked why they hold these events, Ramsay says trees are an important part of any city.
“We really want to encourage canopy cover in the city of London and we figure offering free trees to Londoners is the best way to do that. This way they can pick the tree they want for their property.”
Two thousand trees are being given away at Wednesday’s events. If you’re looking to pick one up, you can head to Exeter Road Operations Centre between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., Community Environment Depot from 9.a.m. to 3 p.m., or Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
If you weren’t able to make it out to a tree pickup centre, Reforest London has tree depots set up around the city until the end of October. To find out when there’s one in your area, click here
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