Replant.ca Environmental

Replant.ca Environmental is a Canadian organization whose vision is to help our global environment through planting trees. We build demonstration forests that are accessible to the public. We also plant in public parks, and we build carbon capture plantations that help mitigate climate change. Our operations are funded by NGO's, corporations, and numerous small donations from global citizens who know that their individual actions will help make a difference.

Thursday, February 23, 2023

The Douglas Fir tree (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Today's post will be about the Douglas Fir tree. The Latin name for this species is Pseudotsuga menziesii. What a mouthful. Thankfully, everyone [in Canada] seems to agree on just one name, Douglas fir, even though this tree is a pretender. But we'll get into that below. First, a photo of a Douglas fir.

This particular tree is called Big Lonely Doug. It was featured in a book called Big Lonely Doug by Harley Rustad. It's a good read, should you choose to pick up a copy.

Here's a range map, courtesy of Wikipedia:

The interesting thing is that this map suggests that Douglas fir only grows naturally within BC and southwestern Alberta (within Canada). However, although Douglas fir is planted very commonly in BC, we've also planted small amounts of this species on select projects in the Maritimes! Of course, it's not suitable for all projects on the east coast, since it's not a naturalized tree. But some of the east coast nurseries grow it. While I was digging around to find any history of Douglas fir in the Maritimes, I discovered that there was a plantation made near Stanhope (PEI) that was still healthy in the 1960's, and even today there may be other stands on PEI in Melville and Brookdale.

Douglas fir has a rich history in western Canada, and has been a critical part of the forest industry due to its value as lumber. While the tree was essentially unknown throughout most of North America in the 1800's, by the mid-20th century it had become known as "the world's premier industrial tree," taking the place of Eastern White Pine after all the old growth pine on the east coast had been decimated.

Douglas fir likes direct sunlight, but it is also shade-tolerant. Because of this, it can be found in pure even-aged stands (usually after a wildfire or a commercial harvest), in uneven-age stands, and also in mixwood forests. It is happy to co-exist among other species, especially hemlock, cedar, pine, larch, and even aspen. It doesn't like to grow up with spruce trees though. Maybe they get jealous of each other because of how straight and clean the trunks grow.

Douglas fir is considered to be a false fir. The real firs are species in BC such as Amabilis, Subalpine, and Grand Fir (or Balsam fir in Alberta and central/eastern Canada). Douglas fir is not a type of pine, spruce or hemlock either. Douglas fir is its own thing. The Latin family name (Pseudotsuga) means "false hemlock."

Being a conifer, the Douglas fir has needles instead of leaves. Here's a photo of the needles on a bundle of seedlings:

Some people have problems differentiating between Douglas fir, true firs, and spruce trees. That's not surprising. At a quick glance, anyone who hasn't studied trees could easily be fooled. But luckily, Nature has given Douglas fir a unique identifying feature for inexperienced silviculturalists: Pointy buds! The buds of the Douglas fir have a very distinct sharp point at the tip. Here's a close-up photo, from Step By Step:

Here are a few Fun Facts about the Douglas fir:

1. The Latin name for this tree (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is a nod to its "discoverer," Alexander Menzies (although of course the indigenous peoples lived with it for millennia before that). And Douglas refers to David Douglas, a Scottish botanist who introduced the tree to Europe.

2. Douglas fir is a deep-rooted species. However, the taproot usually achieves more than 50% of its final depth within just the first five years of growth!

3. The US Navy still has eight wooden ships in the active fleet (Avenger-class minesweepers) made out of ... you guessed it! Douglas fir.

4. An enormous Douglas fir was cut in Washington State in 1897 which measured 465 feet. After it was cut, the New York Times called its destruction a "truly pitiable tale." Indeed. This tree was called the Nooksack Giant, if you'd like to dig into that bit of history.

The Douglas fir is a very noble tree. The world needs more of them.

Thanks for reading!

- Jonathan "Scooter" Clark

www.replant-environmental.ca

Replant.ca Environmental is a Canadian company that plants trees for carbon capture and builds community forests. We also plant trees in national, provincial, and municipal public parks to mitigate damage from wildfires, storms, insects, and forest diseases. We operate thanks to numerous small contributions from the general public, in addition to larger project sponsorships from businesses and corporations around the world. If you'd like to learn how to show your support, visit our donations page. Even if you aren't able to make a contribution, we very much appreciate when people are able to share our posts or our website link on social media, to help spread the word about the work that we're doing!

Teachers are welcome to use content from this post for their classes. If you know a teacher who might like to use this information, please share it with them! The more that people learn about trees, the better our world will be.

To learn more about the various species that we plant, visit the conifers page or the deciduous (hardwoods) page on our website. Thanks so much for your interest!

Incidentally, our organization is often seeking additional land for our carbon capture projects. Please visit this link if you might know of a recently-harvested property that we could rebuild into a permanent legacy forest.

The Silver Maple tree (Acer Saccharinum)

Today's post will be about the Silver Maple tree. The Latin name for this species is Acer saccharinum. Unfortunately, this tree can also be referred to by a lot of other names, including creek maple, water maple, soft maple, white maple, and silverleaf maple. We like to stick to just silver maple. Unfortunately, the Latin name for silver maple is very close to the Latin name for sugar maple (Acer saccharum), which can be very confusing for budding botantists (pardon the pun).

Here's a photo of a very large silver maple in Lincoln Park, Nebraska. No, not Linkin Park.

You can see that this tree doesn't necessarily need to grow beside creeks or water. There's a large silver maple in Mactaquac provincial park that I should have taken a photo of. There are actually a lot of silver maples in Mactaquac, but I'm thinking of one in particular by the new skating trails.

Within Canada, the range of the silver maple has a moderate overlap with the range of red maple, although red maple grows both further north and further south. Here's a map for silver maple, courtesy of Wikipedia. You'll notice that it doesn't extend too far into the Maritimes, but that's changing as the climate warms. Residents of southern Ontario are quite familiar with this tree though.

Perhaps the most unique thing about the silver maple, in my eyes, is how deep the notches are between the lobes on the leaves (especially the two notches on either side of the central notch). The leaves are very visually distinct from other maples.

The seeds of the silver maple come in paired samaras, like other maple trees. However, quite commonly, only one seed of the pair will develop fully. The shape of the seeds is also slightly different than some other types of maple. Here's a beautiful photo, which came from a very nice blog post by the Michigan Nature Guy, which you should check out. Lots of good info there!

Here are a few Fun Facts about silver maples:

1. Silver maples are one of the first trees to wake up in the spring. They are also important for bees, because they are one of the first trees to produce pollen in the spring.

2. Silver maples can be "variably dioecious," which means that the trees can be male or female, or they can also be monoecious, which means that a single tree has both male and female flowers.

3. Silver maple is a very fast-growing tree, often adding two feet per year. But if you're planting it near your house, we recommend that you be careful. It has a very large strong root system that might seek water and compromise your foundation. Try to keep it at least 15-20 meters away from your house.

Silver maple is a fun tree to plant, when seedlings are available. We've included silver maples on several of our projects. It's a great species for restoration projects, especially when moist soils are available.

Thanks for reading!

- Jonathan "Scooter" Clark

www.replant-environmental.ca

To learn more about the various species that we plant, visit the conifers page or the deciduous (hardwoods) page on our website. Thanks so much for your interest!

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

The Butternut Tree (Juglans cinerea)

Today I'm going to talk about the Butternut, which is also more formally known as the White Walnut tree. This tree is an endangered species in Canada. It grows fairly widely in the US, where is it also endangered. Even though it is endangered here in Canada, butternut trees grow quite commonly in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, and in parts of New Brunswick (especially the Saint John river valley). The problem is that the population is diminishing, when if anything, it should be expanding in range (due to climate change). Butternut prefers a slightly cooler climate than black walnut, hence why it is more common to find in parts of Canada.

Here's a photo of a very large butternut tree:

Here's a range map for this species, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Butternut grows best on stream banks and in well-drained soils. Like black walnut, the butternut is a pioneer species which needs open sunlight. Butternut trees are quite shade intolerant, so you won't find them deep in a mature forest. It will last for almost a century in mixed forests where it is part of the over-story, but young trees do not want to grow under the canopy.

Like black walnuts, the nuts are edible. They're very tasty, and [not surprisingly] have more of a buttery taste than black walnuts (hence the name). The shells are encased in a soft sticky husk. These shells are hard to crack, but not as difficult as black walnuts. The resulting nut, when you get it out of the shell, is about the same size as a pecan.

Here's a photo showing a cracked shell of a butternut:

The leaf of a butternut is a large one, which typically has 11-17 smaller leaflets on it. Like the black walnut, many people are confused by the individual leaflets and think they're the leaves. On the butternut, the terminal leaflet at the tip of the leaf is usually quite large. This is distinctly helpful to aid in contrasting the leaves with those of black walnut (which are small at the tip of the leaf). Here's a photo of a butternut leaf:

The butternut is especially susceptible to a fungus which is killing trees all over North America. This is why it is currently endangered. The butternut trees in New Brunswick are thought to be slightly more resistant to this fungus, but they're still susceptible. Several organizations and groups in New Brunswick are trying to help save this tree. Here's a CBC article that is relevant:

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/butternut-tree-miramichi-vikings-extinct-research-scientist-new-brunswick-1.4143430

Here are some Fun Facts about the butternut:

1. The fattest known butternut is located in Oneida, New York state. The circumference of the trunk at breast height was 24 FEET when measured a few years ago. That's a 7.3 meter circumference. Massive.

2. Butternut wood is prized by furniture-makers, just like black walnut, although the wood is much softer to work with than black walnut.

3. Butternut hybridizes easily with Japanese walnut. This hybrid is called the buartnut and is more resistant to the fungus than a pure butternut. The buartnut may become a commonly known tree in the future.

We'll leave you with a photo of some butternut seedlings, courtesy of Ontario's Silver Creek Nursery:

Thanks for reading!

- Jonathan Clark

www.replant-environmental.ca

The Black Walnut tree (Juglans nigra)

Today I'm going to talk about the Black Walnut tree. This tree is not common to Canada. However, it grows extensively to the south of the border, and will likely soon find much more of southern Canada to be a hospitable environment due to climate change, even this "early" in predicted climate changes models. In fact, black walnut trees already grow quite commonly in southwestern Ontario, especially in moisture-rich lowlands.

Here's a range map for this species, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Black walnut is a pioneer species, similar to red maple. This means that it grows well in wide-open spaces with plenty of sunlight, and is not a shade tolerant tree. When a forest is cut, it will grow back quickly, but eventually (after several decades) other successional species will take over. This is why you'll commonly see black walnut along roadsides and forest edges, but not deep in the forest. It is important to note that full sunlight is also important to maximize nut production.

Speaking of the nuts, this tree has nuts which are quite edible. In fact, they are grown and harvested commercially in the United States. Missouri is the main state for black walnut production, accounting for around two-thirds of the US total. For anyone who is a bit rusty on their geography, Missouri is very central to the US, just to the west of Illinois. So it isn't that far from Canada. However, if you're someone who likes to eat walnuts, it's more likely that you're eating English walnuts. That's because the shell of the black walnut is thicker and much harder to crack than the English walnut. Seriously, you'll need a hammer to crack the shell, not a traditional nut cracker.

Walnuts are very healthy to eat, although some people have allergies. Walnut is one of the most common allergies to tree nuts, and can be severe. Anaphylaxis can be fatal. And unfortunately, unlike other food allergies, a lot of people don't "grow out" of these allergies as they age.

Here are some black walnuts in shell:

The leaves of the black walnut are similar to the white walnut, but generally have more leaflets on them. But the interesting fact here is that a black walnut leaf is typically almost a foot and a half long on a mature tree! That's huge. But the definition of the "leaf" is tricky. A lot of people confuse the "leaflets" on a black walnut leaf, thinking that those are the individual leaves. But they aren't, they're part of the single larger leaf. So this photo shows one single leaf, which has almost twenty leaflets on it:

One drawback with this species is that its roots emit a chemical known as juglone. Juglone is a natural herbicide, which tends to kill off a number of other species that might want to grow near a black walnut. This is in the best interests of the black walnut, as the tree rids itself of nearby competition, thus keeping more soil moisture and nutrients to itself. But it does mean that you have to be careful of nearby plants and other trees when you plant it. If you keep your other plants and vegetables out of the drip-line of the black walnut, you should be ok.

As always, here are some Fun Facts about the black walnut:

1. The leaves of the black walnut have a distinct smell. It's hard to describe, but think of an earthy medicine odor with hints of citrus lime soda.

2. Black walnut is prized for its wood by furniture makers and cabinet makers. The wood is is dense and durable, with a fine colour.

3. The heartwood of the black walnut is extremely decay-resistant (similar to cedar). Lots of people use it for outdoor applications, such as fence-posts.

We'll leave you with a photo of a black walnut seedling, growing in the spring:

Thanks for reading!

- Jonathan Clark

www.replant-environmental.ca

The Ginkgo / Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba)

Today I'm going to talk about the Ginkgo tree. This tree is not native to North America. It originally comes from China. It is planted all over the world though. If you're on Canada's east coast, there are ginkgo planted in numerous locations along the streets of Halifax, and also in the Public Gardens. The tree is also known as the Maidenhair.

I have a fairly young ginkgo in my background, but it's an uninspiring sight right now as I'm writing this (in the winter). Young ginkgo trees are fairly uninspiring at the best of times, because they are "gangly and stark" as juveniles. But they look great as they get older and fill in. Here's a photo of a gingko in full Fall foliage in Etobicoke:

The most notable fact about ginkgo is that it is famous for being the "world's oldest tree." By this, I mean as a species. This species has been around for more than 200 million years with essentially no evolution during that time, which is why it is often referred to as a "living fossil." Incidentally, individual ginkgo trees can also live quite long, sometimes over a thousand years.

Here's a photo of a ginkgo at King's College in Halifax:

The popularity of the ginkgo in cities and urban settings isn't simply due to its age. Ginkgo trees are also very resilient, and can survive in a variety of climate conditions. They can also survive environmentally challenging conditions such as pollution and pest infestations. This makes them an ideal tree for urban environments and parks.

The leaves of the ginkgo are quite unique. They have a distinctive fan shape, and they turn a brilliant golden-yellow colour in the fall. Here's a photo of the leaves:

As always, here are some Fun Facts about the ginkgo:

1. This tree is widely cultivated for its use in traditional medicine, particularly in China, where the leaves are used to treat ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, and tinnitus. Western medicine has not found any evidence to support any effective medicinal benefits, but sometimes, just the belief in a cure can be beneficial to an individual.

2. The ginkgo was first introduced to Europe in the 18th century (from China). Before that, it was essentially unknown to the western world.

3. Ginkgo trees are dioecious, which means that there are [separately] male ginkgo trees and female ginkgo trees. The male trees produce small round cones (which give off pollen). The female trees produce seeds called ovules with an outer layer that smells like old rancid butter. The smell is unfortunate, because a lot of people will cut down female trees as soon as they start to smell. So in urban settings, you will find more male trees than females.

It's possible to grow ginkgo from seed, if the seed has been pollinated. Ginkgo are pollinated by wind, not by insect. Here's a photo of a bag of ginkgo seeds that we have in our freezer, ready for processing in a few months:

When you look at a mature gingko, it is obvious that it is a majestic and beautiful tree. But when you know of its history as a living fossil, it becomes even more special. This is one of our favorite deciduous species.

Thanks for reading!

- Jonathan Clark

www.replant-environmental.ca

The Horse Chestnut Tree (Aesculus hippocastanum)

Today I'm going to talk about the horse chestnut tree. This tree is not native to North America. However, it has been planted very frequently all over eastern Canada for hundreds of years, so horse chestnuts can be found throughout Canada, both in urban settings and in rural landscapes. The tree is also known as the European horsechestnut, the Spanish chestnut, and the conker.

We have an old horse chestnut tree in our driveway. It probably won't last too many more years, but for now, it continues to provide a lot of conkers each year.

Horse chestnuts are widely cultivated in parks and in streets throughout the northern hemisphere, if the local climate is suitable. They can be found especially widely in temperate parts of the Commonwealth. Within Canada, they can handle moderately cold conditions, thriving as far north as Edmonton.

One very visually appealing feature of the horse chestnut is the flowers in the spring. "Inflorescence" is a botany term referring to either the process of flowering, the arrangement of flowers on a plant, or to the complete flower head of a plant (including the stalk/stem, bracts, and flowers. The inflorescence of horse chestnut comes in a pyramidal shape, with white flowers that have red and/or yellow spots. Horse chestnuts are very picturesque in the springtime. Here's a photo:

The other distinctive thing about a horse chestnut is the seed, a nut. The seeds are a glossy brown, and they're called conkers. I love these things. You could even go so far as to say that I'm bonkers for conkers. Now before I go any further, I'll clarify that I don't eat them! Horse chestnut conkers contain a toxin called aesculin. This chemical will make a human ill if they eat conkers. The same applies to dogs and horses, although some animals, such as deer and wild boars, are able to eat them with no negative effects. And there's a red squirrel living in my backyard that simply loves nibbling on conkers. I see him sitting on my back porch, week after week, snacking away.

Here's a photo of a box of conkers that we've collected from our driveway tree:

Conkers grow in green shells which eventually turn somewhat yellowish-brown. These green shells have spikes on them, which are fairly prickly, but not especially difficult to pick up. Here's a photo showing a conker shell:

As always, here are some Fun Facts about the horse chestnut:

1. It's a symbol of the city of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Incidentally, I've visited Kyiv, and it's a beautiful city with wonderful people.

2. Horse chestnuts were always an important part of Bavarian beer gardens. Before refrigeration was common, brewers would dig holes in the ground to keep their lagers cool. The best way to keep the ground especially cool was by keeping it shaded throughout the summer months, so the brewmeisters planted horse chestnuts, as these trees had a wide dense canopy which cast a strong wide shadow on the ground. Horse chestnuts also have shallow roots, which were less likely to disturb the beer cellars in the ground. Bavarian beer "gardens" therefore were usually horse chestnut gardens.

3. The Anne Frank tree in Amsterdam, known globally for its place in The Diary of a Young Girl, was a horse chestnut. Before that tree collapsed and died in 2010, descendants of that very tree were planted in prominent locations all over the world.

Although the horse chestnut has essentially become a naturalized tree in Canada, it is not considered a native species. Therefore, we don't plant it very often. But there is a home for the horse chestnut in some of our projects, so we've planted quite a few seedlings that we've grown ourselves. We've also gathered approximately three thousand conkers that we planted directly on a couple of test sites, and we're looking forward to doing surveys in a couple years to determine how successful that work was.

Here's a photo of one of our horse chestnut seedlings in the fall, just as the leaves are about to drop before planting. Being true Canadians, we were growing them in discarded Tim Horton's cups:

Thanks for reading!

- Jonathan Clark

www.replant-environmental.ca

Monday, February 20, 2023

Tree Planting Project in Victoria Park, 2023 (Truro, Nova Scotia)

Our organization did quite a bit of tree planting work in Truro's Victoria Park in September 2022. This work was completely funded by One Tree Planted, who was the lead organization on this project. One Tree Planted is a wonderful organization that fundraises and supports the planting of trees all over the world.

Edit: We also did several thousand trees of additional planting in the Fall of 2023, and then a much larger phase in 2024 which was sponsored by Forests Ontario / Forest Recovery Canada, but the rest of this blog post will talk about the 2022 phase. For a link to the more recent work, read this post:

www.replant-environmental.blogspot.com/2024/11/tree-planting-in-victoria-park-truro.html

Let's continue reviewing our work in 2022:

Truro is located in central Nova Scotia, and is often referred to as "the hub of Nova Scotia." From Truro, highways branch out in all directions to other points within the province. Truro is a small town which has an official population of only about twelve thousand people, but when you count everyone within a fifteen minute drive of the town, the number is probably closer to fifty thousand. That may not sound like much to anyone who lives elsewhere in a dense urban area. But Truro also has something else rather special. It has a municipal park, called Victoria Park. And that park is over three thousand acres in size! The people of Truro are extremely lucky to have access to such a large and beautiful park, located right inside the town limits.

But exactly how big is three thousand acres? Well, to put it into perspective, New York City's famed Central Park is less than a thousand acres. And Central Park has its own police precinct (the 22nd) which polices the 58km of pedestrian trails found there. Victoria Park doesn't have its own precinct, but it definitely has an extensive trail network.

Here's an overview graphic of eastern Canada (courtesy of Google Earth), showing the location of Victoria Park:

When we originally contacted Victoria Park in 2020 to discuss the possibility of planting some trees there, we learned that there were several areas which could definitely benefit. There were a few sections where trees had been removed after being killed by insects. Also, the former municipal landfill (now decommissioned) was relatively barren. Although some parts of the topsoil cap over the landfill had already been replanted several years ago by the Scouts and other organizations, there was still a great deal of work to be done.

We started our work within the park that year, initially funded by public donations. We got off to a very good start to the project in 2020, planting approximately fifteen thousand trees. However, the project really started to have a major impact in 2021 (another thirty-five thousand trees) thanks to support and financial backing from One Tree Planted.

Our initial review in 2020 had indicated that there could be as many as fifty to sixty acres of open ground that were suitable for afforestation efforts. That fall, we did our initial work around the trail heads up at the top of the park, for the first phase of what would obviously need to be a multi-year project. Phase 2 in 2021 more than doubled our impact. And this year's Phase 3 included the planting of 51,305 additional seedlings!!

The shaded areas in the graphic below illustrate some of the ground that was covered in the Fall of 2022:

In addition to those areas, we also planted a section further to the southeast (within the Lepper Watershed) which was impacted by insect damage.

To date, we've been able to plant six types of conifers (red spruce, eastern white pine, black spruce, white spruce, Jack pine, and a small number of eastern larch) plus six deciduous species (white birch, yellow birch, sugar maple, red maple, mountain ash, and red oak) within the Park.

Phase 3 of this project (in 2022) was successful in most respects, although we had a major interruption in late September due to the landfall of Hurricane Fiona, which passed directly over central and eastern Nova Scotia. We had originally planned to do some work in the Gorge areas of the Park on September 26th, but Fiona caused massive damage, closing the Park due to safety concerns. We were able to get into the site later in the week to plant the seedlings, but we had to divert them to some of the areas outlined in the graphic above, rather than planting them throughout the Gorge as originally intended. The hurricane also impacted our deciduous seedling availability, which was regrettable, as we had hoped to further increase the number of hardwoods. Additional hardwoods will now have to wait for a future phase. In the meantime, the Park continues to clean up damage and slowly re-open affected areas. It may take more than a year before the entirety of the Park is assessed for cleanup needs.

Here are a few photos from our work in 2022:

You can see more photos of our 2022 tree planting work at this site by visiting our public 2022 Planting Photos folder on Dropbox, then going into the "Victoria Park" sub-folder.

We'd like to thank Larry and the park staff for having us, Don from the Department of Lands & Forests for helping with logistics coordination, and especially One Tree Planted for being the Sponsor that made this project happen.

As mentioned, we also planted several thousand additional seedlings in the Fall of 2023, although the ongoing hurricane cleanup efforts precluded us from having a major presence for 2023. We look forward to finishing what may be the final phase of our current work in the Park in the Fall of 2024. After that, we'll probably give the seedlings a few years to grow, while doing regular survival surveys and health assessments to ensure that the new forests are off to a strong start.

Edit: Here's a link to our blog post talking about our 2021 work, in case you want to review the earlier work that we did:

replant-environmental.blogspot.com/2021/10/tree-planting-project-in-victoria-park.html

If you'd like to learn more about Truro's Victoria Park, visit their website:

www.victoriaparktruro.ca

Victoria Park is the #1 rated attraction in Truro, and has over fifteen hundred very positive reviews on Google.

Thanks for reading!

- Jonathan Clark

www.replant-environmental.ca