🌳 Trees in Champlain Park 🌲

What street in Champlain Park had the coolest temperatures on July 18, 2019? How much money do three blocks of trees in Champlain Park save the residents?

Find answers to these and other interesting questions, and find support to help you plant a tree on your property or in a public space, by visiting the new Trees in Champlain Park pages on the Association website: https://champlainpark.org/ticp/ticp-home/

Just in time for the holidays: a gift that gives, as it grows! Enter the CPCA tree giveaway contest. Sign up to get a free tree from the City.

This is a project of the Champlain Park Community Association, in partnership with the CAFES neighbourhood tree canopy network.

Apple Tree Movers Wanted – October 28

On Apples, Pick-up Trucks and Food Security

The Community Forest project needs a pick-up truck or vehicle with a trailer to collect a MacIntosh apple tree from the Just Food Farm in Blackburn Hamlet (near Orleans) and bring it to the neighbourhood. Thursday afternoon (October 28) or Friday during the day would be ideal. If you have access to truck or trailer, please contact Daniel Buckles (613-807-8048).

The apple will be the last planting of the season in the new terraces at Champlain Park, along with two American Hazelnuts (a native shrub with showy flowers and edible nuts). Our Community Forest will not only showcase a native “Tiny Forest” east along Pontiac, a “Native Pollinator Garden” at the entrance to the river, and a glimpse at “futures forests” in our warming world, but also options for “Food Forests” in urban environments.

“Where will our food come from?” is a question posed in the context of Ottawa’s new Official Plan in an opinion piece by a neighbour you might find of interest here.

Update from the “Pit Crew” of Champlain Park.

Encore! Biodiversity Celebration Continues – October 6

Encore! Biodiversity Celebration Continues Wednesday, October 6, 4:00 to 5:00 pm.

Eastern Bumblebee on Cosmos Sulphureus (Golden Cosmos), by Grace Nault, a young resident of Champlain Park.

Some 15 hardy souls braved the cool wet weather on Saturday to plant more than 40 trees into our latest “Tiny Forest”, including a collection of “Carolinian Forest” species to complement our “Native Pollinator Garden”.

See details on each through the links above, and tour the site with local experts on Wednesday, October 6 from 4:00 to 5:00 pm. Location? The north end of Champlain Park, at Pontiac and Cowley Avenue in Kitchissippi Ward, Ottawa. Plant acorns from our Heritage Bur Oaks and share ideas on how to start your own neighbourhood biodiversity and tree canopy projects.
Continue reading “Encore! Biodiversity Celebration Continues – October 6” →

Caterpillar Voracious Appetites

Now is the time to protect trees from caterpillars with voracious appetites.

Heritage bur oaks in our neighbourhood are being attacked by the gypsy moth caterpillar. In fact, all deciduous trees are at risk from the caterpillar. So are conifers.

Here’s what you can do to protect any tree in your yard (or in the park):
https://www.champlainoaks.net/post/copy-of-protect-your-bur-oaks-from-gypsy-moth-caterpillars

Plants Need Help

Tom Sawyer’s Life Lesson

Mark Twain’s brilliant story about the Adventures of Tom Sawyer shows that “to make someone covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.” Tom Sawyer, when his friend asked why he was not distressed about having to paint his Aunt Polly’s fence, simply said, “I don’t see why I would be, you don’t get to do this everyday.” Within a few hours, every one of his friends was vying for the opportunity to paint the fence, even paying him in kind (apples and precious pieces of string) for the privilege.

Well, we have some difficult things to challenge you that are also important enough for you to want to take on the challenge.

What are we talking about? Keeping 180 trees and a pollinator garden alive and thriving during a dry spring and summer is both difficult to attain and important to beautifying our neighbourhood. We are also trying to recover the abandoned former parking lot at Pontiac and the Park as a future tree planting site. Your contribution can make a difference, by taking on responsibility for a few hours in our watering schedule or by doing other tree or earth moving care. We have a pretty good system in place, but need more helping hands.

If this amazing opportunity to bring biodiversity into the neighbourhood is something you want to be part of, contact Daniel Buckles (dbuckles@sas2.net) for a brief orientation and access to the online schedule. The project is an initiative of the Champlain Park Community Association.

Forest Artists with Don Monet

Are you a struggling student artist? Work with a pro and help your neighbourhood too by documenting the amazing green transformation going on right here in Champlain Park.

If you have been down to the river you will have seen the pollinator garden at the end of Carleton, and the “Tiny Forest” that has popped up along Pontiac.

There are other delights in the woods too that are the fruit of local volunteers with the Champlain Park Community Association.

We would like your help (photographers, painters, sculptors, etc.) to showcase the plant biodiversity and volunteer spirit we are bringing into the neighbourhood.

Don Monet, painter and owner of Ottawa’s CUBE Gallery, lives here too and would be happy to mentor or otherwise support you in a local art project focused on the green transformation. If interested, contact Daniel Buckles (daniel.buckles@gmail.com) for a virtual introduction to Don.

Homes Wanted for Tree Saplings

Are you willing to provide a foster home for a tree sapling?

The Champlain Park Enviro Committee is looking for caretakers of small, potted trees that will eventually make their way into public spaces in the community. The term for taking care of plants can range from a few months to two years, depending on species and how quickly we can find a permanent home. Learn about and share your knowledge of native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, while also helping to create a legacy urban forest and healthy environment.

If you would be interested in becoming a member of our Caretaker Network, volunteering as Champlain Park Plant Caretaker, please complete the Caretaker registration form and one of the Project Coordinators will get back you.

Thanking you in advance for your interest.

For more details on the Champlain Park Plant Caretaker please visit the Projects homepage

Big Trees and Mechanicsville Promoting Trees vs Embassies

Via Heather and Daniel:

Mechanicsville Community Association and Big Trees of Kitchissippi invite you to make your voice count in efforts to say YES to more trees and No to embassies at the NCC Burnside property on the Ottawa River in Kitchissippi Ward.

First, send a video message (hug) to Councillors and Federal Ministers before Earth Day next week, using this simple video platform: https://app.vidhug.com/yes-to-trees-no-to-embassies-/HyZ-FoNL_/record

Use your phone, or record directly on the platform, indoors or (preferably) outdoors to say Yes (and No).

Second, sign this petition calling on the City of Ottawa and NCC to honour their commitments to addressing the climate emergency, by saying Yes to more trees on the site, and No to embassies: See Petition

Trees, Birds and Money

Subject: Trees and birds, oh the joy of it
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 2021 11:27:16 -0400
From: Daniel Buckles <dbuckles@sas2.net>

Trees help make Champlain Park a special neighbourhood in this part of the city, and no doubt add to the property value and enjoyment of residents (studies show generally a 10-15% increase in property value due to trees, and many direct human health benefits as well).

Native tree species are particularly important because they harbour native insects that recognize them as food sources and good places to lay their eggs. The Norway Maple and Japanse Lilac, while lovely in their own way, confuse insects looking for food and habitat, making them less desirable tree species for a healthy ecosystem. The same logic applies to shrubs and herbaceous plants: native is better for insects.

Anywhere insects go, birds follow. If you enjoy birds, Champlain Park and the nearby woods have lots to offer, including a recent visit from a flock of Bohemian Waxwings and perennial sightings of the solitary Pileated Woodpecker (among many others).

It now seems that birds make us as happy as money, in fact, an extra $190 a month according to a study of 25 European countries. Check out a media report on the study here: https://nationalpost.com/news/world/birds-make-you-as-happy-as-money-study-finds

NCC Forest Feedback

Public consultation on the NCC Forest Strategy

The National Capital Commission (NCC) invites you to participate in an online public consultation on its Forest Strategy.

This strategy will guide how the NCC manages forests and trees on its lands. It will align our efforts, and prepare us to meet current and future challenges. Previous rounds of public consultation on the strategy were held in June and October 2019. We are now in the final phase of developing this strategy.

Through this online consultation, you’ll have an opportunity to:

learn about the context of the strategy, including the challenges affecting our trees and forests;
review the strategy’s proposed vision, goals, long-term objectives and short-term actions;
read the full draft of the strategy; and
provide feedback on the strategy before it is finalized.

We invite you to provide your input via the comment box on the Forest Strategy webpage from February 16 to March 3, 2021.

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