Tree Riverview’s first tree planting project took place in the spring of 2021 less than a year after the committee of five women was formed. There was a steep learning curve to move from the initial desire to plant trees to get them in the ground. TR needed to learn about the City of Winnipeg tree planting rules and regulations, to secure funds to purchase trees and pay for their planting and maintenance, and to manage a contract with an arborist company to do the work. Happily, the result was the planting of 55 trees on Arnold Avenue and Baltimore Road boulevards at the end of April 2021.

One of the first steps in learning how to get trees planted on public land in Winnipeg was to reach out to other community tree groups. Wendy Botkin and May Wady spoke with Melanie about the Glenelm Neighbourhood Trees Project, met with volunteers from Kingston Crescent/Kingston Crescent, and spoke with Charles of the Friends of Peanut Park volunteer group about how they managed to get trees planted on their neighbourhood boulevards and in their parks. In addition, Wendy and May consulted with Jean, a Riverview Community member and tree advocate, about how to get started as a volunteer, grassroots group. These conversations were very helpful, and it was inspiring to meet other people who were volunteering their time to see that some trees were planted to replace the many lost.

Wendy and May talked about funding opportunities with our local city councillor, Sherri Rollins, and with Dennis Cunningham, then Board President of the Riverview Community Centre. These conversations resulted in Trees Riverview applying for funding from the City of Winnipeg through the Land Dedication Reserve Fund. The Land Dedication Reserve Fund was created in 1973 with a policy requiring developers to pay cash instead of providing open space dedication and that the cash be used to fund the acquisition and improvement of land for parks, recreation, and community use. Trees Riverview’s request for funds to plant trees on boulevards did not meet the parks and recreation criteria of the policy, but after review at the Community Committee level of City Council it was forwarded to the Executive Policy Committee and Council, which approved the TR application and waived criteria. The City of Winnipeg’s Land Dedication Reserve Fund (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Ward allocation) contributed $14,441.

Trees Riverview also received funding from Assiniboine Credit Union for the 2021 tree planting project. Assiniboine Credit Union provided $12,500.

Since boulevard trees are public trees and the responsibility of the City of Winnipeg, Trees Riverview needed to learn about rules and regulations for planting public trees and to work very closely with the City of Winnipeg Urban Forestry Branch (UFB). UFB protocols and regulations for boulevard tree planting include specifications about the variety and planting size of the trees and contracting with a UFB-approved arborist company to obtain, plant, and maintain the trees. TR consulted with UFB about the most appropriate Riverview blocks for planting, and once the general locations were established, UFB personnel determined the exact locations for each tree, taking into consideration things like proximity to alleyways and stop-signs, and overhead lines (small ornamental trees are more appropriate in those locations).

To obtain a City of Winnipeg UFB approved arborist, TR initiated a Request-for-Quote process and then selected the bidder with the most competitive, comprehensive package. The chosen contractor, Green Drop, purchased 15-gallon container sized trees of the following species: Linden, Triumph Elm, Hackberry and Navigator Pear. TR left a letter describing the planting project in the mailboxes of the houses adjacent to boulevard planting sites. Homeowners were told about the species of trees to be planted and asked to contact TR with any specific requests. They were also given the option to opt out of having a tree planted on the boulevard near their house.

Green Drop planted, mulched, and staked the young boulevard trees at the end of April 2021. The different species were mixed as they were planted to better prevent disease and resist pests, aiming to avoid the mistakes of past single-species plantings where disease could mean removal of all trees on a block. The 2021 plant filled gaps on the three blocks of Baltimore Road immediately east of Fisher Park (with two additional trees planted nearby on Fisher St), and on Arnold Avenue east of Hay to Eccles. For specific locations of the trees planted please see the 2021 planting sites document . The trees were watered and maintained for the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons, with a guarantee of replacement, should they die before the end of the second growing season.

Our second tree planting project took place in October of 2022. There were two components to this project: planting boulevard trees with public and private funds and planting trees on Riverview Community Centre (RVCC) grounds with funds donated by a private citizen couple.

In the fall of 2021 Trees Riverview began to apply for funding for a plant in 2022. Applications were sent to Assiniboine Credit Union (ASU), Red River Co-op, Trees Canada, and the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). ACU did not have a grant available for planting trees, but it did for environmental sustainability public awareness, so TR applied for and received $5000 to develop a TR logo and website. Red River Co-op contributed $2000 towards tree planting. Trees Canada gave great feedback about the TR funding application, but in the end did not award the money stating that they had many more applicants than funds. RBC declined TR’s grant request. Initially, TR did not apply for another City of Winnipeg LDR grant because it did not seem likely that it would be awarded for two years in a row. TR did receive unsolicited donations from several Riverview residents and is very grateful to these people who chose to support public tree planting even though as a grassroots, non-profit organization TR is not able to issue charitable receipts.

With only limited public tree planting funds secured in March of 2022, TR began to plan for a small fall plant. However, communications with Sherri Rollins in May of 2022 encouraged TR to apply for a LDR grant once again. For a second time the application was forwarded to the Executive Policy Committee and Council, which then approved the TR application and waived LDR criteria. TR received a LDR grant of $12, 298, which greatly increased the funds available for a 2022 plant. The paperwork for the LDR grant was finalized in July and work began towards planning and executing the fall plant.

TR had also been talking with the two Riverview residents who wanted to donate trees and have them planted on the RVCC field. The couple had also spoken to RVCC board members about their idea. TR agreed to incorporate this into the contract for boulevard planting, after discussions with the couple, RVCC and the couple and the City of Winnipeg on how best to manage legal and administrative responsibilities of all parties.

The 2022 TR plant went ahead on October 17 with 29 boulevard trees planted: a mixture of the following species: Basswood, Ohio Buckeye, Delta Hackberry, Triumph Elm, Ivory Silk Tree Lilac, and Starlite Flowering Crab Apple. These trees were planted on 4 different Riverview streets: the 200 & 300 blocks of Bartlet Ave., the 200 & 300 blocks of Oakwood Ave., the 200, 400 & 500 blocks of Montague, and the 500 block of Churchill Drive. The 15 trees donated to the City were planted near the bus stop on the RVCC field. The donors selected tree species for this planting and the following were planted: Amur Maple, American Basswood (substituted for Dropmore Linden), Gladiator Crab, Amur Choke Cherry, Japanese Lilac, Hawthorne, Starlite Crab, and Hackberry. For specific locations of the trees planted see the 2022 planting sites document and the RVCC Planting Location Map. The 44 trees planted will be watered and maintained for the 2023 and 2024 growing seasons by the contractor and the contractor will also replace any that die before the end of the 2024 growing season.

a) Trees Riverview provided information about the City of Winnipeg Commemorative Tree Planting program to our neighbours through the RVCC blog and newsletter. This helped facilitate the planting of two commemorative trees in Fisher Park in the fall of 2021 .M

Information about this program may be found on the About Our Trees page or here on the UFB website.

b) Trees Riverview committee members were among the eighty volunteers who helped plant over a thousand bare root trees on Churchill Parkway in May of 2022. For further information, read this page on the Trees Please website.