REGINA - If you love trees, there is no better place to be in Saskatchewan this week than walking around the urban forest at Wascana Centre.
The province has proclaimed May 22 to May 28, 2023, as Arbor Week with Friday, May 26, recognized as Arbor Day. Those involved in helping keep Wascana Centre filled with a large and diverse collection of trees were on hand Friday with reporters to mark the occasion.
Today, Wascana Centre is host to over 50,000 trees, which according to the province’s release includes ash, birch, walnut, cedar, elm, maple, oak, spruce and willow.
The Wascana Centre site includes trees planted over 100 years ago when the Legislature buildings were just being built. At that time Amédée Forget and George Watt brought over 6,000 trees from Banff, Alberta.
Derek Barr, Forestry & Pest Control Supervisor with the Provincial Capital Commission, highlighted one notable tree located on the Queen Elizabeth II East Gardens: an American Elm that Watt had planted in 1913.
This was an example of the oldest elm tree in the city of Regina, he said. This elm tree has been well-documented in Watt’s journals. Before arriving at its current Wascana Centre location, it had transplanted from Government House.
“We can assume this is a 120 year old tree,” said Barr. “We love our elm trees here in the city of Regina. We don’t know how long they’re going to live yet. This one is 120 years old and still growing strong. We’re hoping to have trees reach 200+ years in the long term.”
Barr noted that Watt had started keeping his journal in 1909, and in it Watt referenced bringing spruce trees in from the Banff area in around 1912. “There were comments that a lot of them were planted along Albert Street. We can assume that all along this east side of Albert Street through the park, the larger mature trees there are about the same age, 100 plus years.”
Another notable tree, located to the north of the elm, is a cottonwood. That tree is described as a little more native to Saskatchewan, and has a lifespan of 150 years. Barr said Watt had recorded that he had planted 6,000 cottonwoods in the park in around 1912.
“I don’t see nearly that many left but we definitely have some large specimens still living strong.”
Not a lot of the trees in Wascana Centre are natural to the area. “Everything we put here has been a stretch of what we can do and what we can grow and achieve,” said Barr.
There is a range of trees in Wascana Centre ranging from young to old. Barr described their canopy as a “mature canopy. What we are starting to find that our poplar trees, especially, have reached the climax of their life cycles, and with that brings various diseases to speed up their demise. So that is a large component of what we have to remove at this time. We’re absolutely trying to replace them faster than we remove them in hopes that they continue to mature, and we have enough to make it to maturity again.”
The Wascana Centre canopy is looked after by a team of forestry specialists who use the latest innovations and best practises in pruning and pest management to prevent diseases. Barr said the one that would be most catastrophic would be Dutch Elm Disease, but said they only ever had two Dutch Elm Disease cases in the park. “I think we’ve done a very diligent job with our pruning programs to keep our trees healthy and prevent that,” said Barr.
This year, they expect to plant 300-400 trees in Wascana Centre as part of their annual tree planting program. Barr said their forestry team comprises 19 people on staff.
Typically, they will plant with a tree spade, as that puts in a larger tree which typically takes one operator, and then two people will come in for an hour behind the tree to add soil and wood mulch. They also utilize an ongoing watering program.
“There are so many beautiful and amazing trees here in Wascana Centre,” Jenna Schroeder, Executive Director of the Provincial Capital Commission. “We’ve got such an oasis within the middle of the city, and we’re so proud, and so honoured to be able to care for it, tend to it for our current generation and our future generations as well. So today, Arbor Day, we do want to celebrate all of these trees, and everything they bring to us.”
"The trees of Wascana Centre create a natural space in an urban environment that fosters a healthy and diverse ecosystem," said Minister Responsible for the Provincial Capital Commission Don McMorris in a statement. "The trees provide shade and a natural beauty that all can enjoy. On Arbor Day, let's all take the opportunity to notice the trees growing and appreciate how much they add to our lives, each and every day."
