The City’s Trees in Trust program needs residents’ help to find suitable locations for street trees. Street trees are available by request on a first come, first served basis. If your City-owned street frontage lacks a tree and you have the time and commitment to help care for one, please contact us. The deadline to get a tree planted this fall is July 1.
This program applies only to homes with street frontage (the space between your property line and the roadway) and we do require residents to water the tree for the first three years after planting. Rain barrels are very helpful in collecting water for your new tree. The tree will be a minimum diameter of 50 millimetres caliper (two to three metres tall).
Tree Protection By-law
When a permit is granted to remove a tree on private property, replanting is typically required as part of the tree removal permit. Details about tree permit requirements may be found in Schedule B of the Tree Protection Bylaw – Tree Protection (By-law No. 2020-340) | City of Ottawa. This is a friendly reminder to residents and developers to please honour the terms of your permit by replanting the required number of trees.
Growing our canopy
We encourage residents to join in and plant trees on their own property to increase our tree canopy. When selecting the right tree for the right place, it is important to be mindful of the location of your property lines. The City has many tree planting programs for streets, parks and greenspaces. If you would like a tree planted on City property, please visit Ottawa.ca to learn more.
How residents can help
A tree delivered for the Trees in Trust program could arrive up to 3 days before planting occurs. As I mentioned, we do ask residents to help the new tree establish itself by watering when rainfall is less than 25mm a week. We ask residents to maintain this watering schedule for the first three years after planting.
When stump grinding is completed on the City right of way in front of a home, we ask residents to water the area after we have applied the topsoil and grass seed.
With camping season now here, we once again remind residents to please burn firewood in the same local area where it was purchased. Bringing firewood in from other municipalities can greatly contribute to the spread of many different diseases and pests that negatively impact trees and forests. Don’t forget to confirm campfires are allowed!
