You can fight global warming by planting trees and have fun at the same time. And I got a chance to do that recently at Surrey’s Bose Forest Park, the city’s newest park.
Originally I planned to take my kids along; to get them outside and to show them one thing they could do to potentially combat global warming. Sadly, I couldn’t get them out of the house early in the morning.
Bose Forest Park
When the Bose family settled in Surrey, BC, to farm, they deliberately set aside a bit of forest for recreation. And it was a brilliant move because now it’s Surrey’s newest park.
The City of Surrey organized this event extremely well. People signed you in and went over safety. Then you grabbed a shovel and walked down to the planting area.
Clearly it was OK to leave my kids at home because the planting area was buzzing with volunteer citizens, young and old. It was awesome to see.
I eventually found an empty spot for planting and got to work.
Natives!
Planting native plants was the easy part. I feel for the brave volunteers who cleared the area of invasive blackberry months earlier.
Because the Thimbleberry botanical name (Rubus parviflorus) was new to me, I started my work with this shrub. It turns out that Thimbleberry produces edible berries and, because its leaves are fuzzy and thorn-less, the plant is billed as nature’s toilet paper. More on this in a future blog!
As more and more volunteers streamed in, I gave it about thirty minutes and headed back up to the check-in area for coffee and snacks.
On the way back, I took pictures of an area that was freed from invasive blackberry and planted with the same natives last year. You can see how nicely the plants fill out the space. Eventually the Big leaf maples (Acer macrophyllum) will tower over the spot and store carbon for us.
Conclusion
Volunteering in Surrey on a Saturday morning was a lot of fun. I discovered a new forest park, planted trees and shrubs, and improved my resume! Next year I will bring my kids. Maybe.
