WINDSOR, ONT. -- The City has begun a new tree trimming program that will see all City-owned trees growing along the public right of way trimmed over a seven-year period.
This seven-year endeavour will see 10,000 trees trimmed each year over four project areas, resulting in more than 70,000 trees trimmed throughout the streets of Windsor.
Once the project is complete, the program resets, and the tree trimming rotation begins again in perpetuity. Windsor’s urban forest has a replacement value of more than $50 million and provides annual environmental benefits worth $2.7 million, such as the absorption of carbon dioxide, ozone and other large particulates.
The project began earlier this month.
Tree trimming focuses on the removal of dead and dying branches and leads to an improvement to the tree’s health by removing diseased and insect-ridden material. Tree trimming also reduces the likelihood of potential conflicts with power lines and other infrastructure.
Windsor’s urban forest has dealt with many challenges over the years, experiencing battles with chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer, gypsy moth and frequent intense storms.
The City of Windsor Forestry division remains on the lookout for the ever-looming threat of oak wilt disease. Despite all these challenges, Windsor’s urban forest continues to be resilient and growing, bolstering a canopy cover metric of over 19%, which includes more than 1,000 acres of natural areas located in the city.
This year’s four tree trimming project areas include parts of wards 1, 2 and 4, addressing some of Windsor’s oldest treed neighbourhoods. Emergency tree trimming will also take place across the city as needed. For more information on forestry, please visit www.CityWindsor.ca or contact 311.
