By Marlene Knezevich, Chair LTW, Bd. Member Garden Wilmot, as seen in the Wilmot-Tavistock Gazette
Winter has been long and spring is elbowing its way to the front. It is hard to believe we can plant trees soon! Let’s Tree Wilmot, a project of Garden Wilmot, starts planting on Saturday, April 18th in Mannheim. LTW is excited as this is a large new project of approximately 1.85 hectares (5.57 acres) area tucked in the Northwest corner of Mannheim north of Milne Drive. This area was identified in the Wilmot Trails Master Plan and the Wilmot Tree Canopy Policy Framework by Wilmot Township.
LTW has dubbed this project, ‘Mannheim Carolinian Corner’. Southern Ontario has a Carolinian Zone south of an imaginary line that runs approximately from Grand Bend to Toronto. This land is known by some First Nations as Waawayaatanong, which means “Round Lake” in reference to territory around Lake St. Clair.The Carolinian Zone is the most diverse and fragile ecoregion of Canada, the smallest forest region in Canada amounting to just one percent of the country’s landmass. The Carolinian Zone has the highest diversity of wild species and number of species at risk in Canada. It is also home to 25% of the Canadian population.
The zone is expanding northward due to climate change, and Let’s Tree Wilmot has incorporated some Carolinian species in many of the tree planting projects throughout the Township to date. The Mannheim site will have a higher volume of Carolinian species such as Kentucky Coffee Tree, hoptree, pignut hickory, tulip tree, flowering dogwood, spicebush, sassafras, and chinquapin oak. Common Carolinian species and species of our area include red maple, white pine, bur oak, red cedar and honey locust. The species selected for this site need to be drought tolerant as the site’s soil is sand and gravel. The Mannheim Carolinian Corner will be planted in three phases with the first phase on April 18th, and the final phases to be completed this Fall.
The future trail will follow the natural topography of the site. Cody Eby, Manager of Parks and Facilities reported, “The Mannheim Carolinian Corner project is an opportunity to increase the tree canopy from 22 per cent to 30 percent and incorporate species diversity to the Township. The most recent Green Communities Canada grant awarded to Let’s Tree Wilmot for the value of $67,240 covers two years of planting and one year of maintenance, with the current planting initiative in year two. Further tree planting and tree maintenance initiatives are carried out by way of the Enova Reforestation grant the Township generously receives annually to advance long-term community and environmental sustainability goals.”
Come join Let’s Tree Wilmot to grow a special habitat for Wilmot Township on Saturday, April 18th from 9:00 am to noon. For details and registration go to https://letstreewilmot.ca/events. Why are we planting trees that typically grow south of us? Come and find out. Bring the whole family. There are snacks!
Let’s Tree Wilmot’s Mannheim Carolinian Corner tree-planting site.
A map showing the Mannheim Carolinian Corner with plants for phased tree planting. Phase one is blue, phase two is purple and phase three is orange.
