The City of Kingston is planting 150 trees to mark the sesquicentennial of the Confederation of Canada.
Several thousand trees are planted every year by the City to meet its commitment to double the number of urban trees by 2025. It cites the benefits of more trees reducing CO2 emissions and creating wildlife habitats. Also, when planted for the specific purpose, trees can also shade buildings and reduce the cost of air conditioning by up to 50 percent, and block the wind during cold months to potentially reduce the cost of heating by 10 to 25 percent.
Among the 150 trees being planted this year, 15 red maples will be planted in Trillium Ridge Park near Taylor Kidd Boulevard and Centennial Drive in a special ceremony that will include the unveiling of a commemorative plaque.
UPDATE: The sesquicentennial tree planting ceremony that was scheduled for Saturday, May 6 is cancelled due to the heavy rain that is occurring and is forecast to continue for the next thirty-six hours. Given this forecast for substantial rainfall and continuing inclement weather conditions this event has been cancelled.
The remaining 135 trees will each be marked as a “Sesquicentennial Tree” and situated throughout the city in the shape of giant maple leaf in a connect-the-dots style with each of the tree’s GPS coordinates available on Kingston’s Sesquicentennial webpage.
In a City release, the maple tree is described as being native to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region and one of the most prolific species in the area.
“In fact, 39 per cent of the trees in Kingston are maple trees. The maple is Canada’s national tree and the maple leaf remains our most enduring national symbol. As maple trees have an average life expectancy of 80 to 100 years, the 150 Sesquicentennial Trees planted in 2017 will serve as a long-standing testament to Kingston’s commemoration of Canadian Confederation at 150.”
