Nearly 400 native trees and shrubs have been planted at the Oil Museum of Canada in the past week.
The tree planting initiative at the National Historic Site property is a partnership between the St Clair Region Conservation Authority, Enbridge Fueling Futures Program, and the County of Lambton to mark the County’s 175th anniversary.
The goal is to naturalize a significant portion of the Oil Museum’s property in Oil Springs through the development of a mini-forest, incorporating a future walking trail for museum interpretation and experience development.
“This is a small but important step in a much larger planting and restoration project that will have a positive impact on our watershed,” said Jessica Van Zwol, Healthy Watershed Specialist with SCRCA. “Tree planting is a great way to retain soil and nutrients, which are needed for agricultural purposes and ensure healthy water quality in the Sydenham River watershed.”
Along with 175 tulip trees to mark Lambton’s 175th anniversary, sycamore, bur oak, red oak, swamp white oak, silver maple, Kentucky coffee tree, black chokeberry, and winterberry varieties were also planted to begin the process of restoration.
The planting of a mini-forest is a method of densely planting native plants, one meter apart, to make them compete and grow faster and squeeze out space for any unwanted invasive species.
Project funding support has been provided by Environment and Climate Change Canada, EcoAction Community Funding Program, and Canadian Trees for Life.
