The Fall Giveaway is now closed.
We appreciate all your help spreading the word!
Native Tree Giveaway
Trees are Cool!
Native Trees Restore Biodiversity and Keep Us Cool.
40% tree coverage is needed to get a cooling effect in a city. In Toronto, we have neighbourhoods that lack tree coverage and we want to help change this. We all can plant another native tree in our yard and therefore will play an active part in making the world a better place for us, future generations and wildlife alike. And we thank you for planting the biggest possible tree for your available space to make the biggest impact.
This tree giveaway, we also want to ask you to take some time and find a way to share the tree giveaway with people in neighbourhoods with low tree canopy. This will have a greater benefit to the living standard of our city as a whole. Through providing great shade and through transpiration, trees reduce the City's heat island effect by 5ºC. in summer. As a windbreak, they also save heating costs in winter. Their green appearance, beauty, and scent reduce stress, increase school performance, and contribute to our overall health and well-being. One Northern Red Oak, Sugar Maple or other big tree sequesters over 3200 kg of CO2, mitigates about 513,000 litres of stormwater and removes around 77 kg of air pollutants during its life. Trees provide privacy and increase property value by up to 20% for your property and neighbourhood.
Native trees also tremendously benefit wildlife by providing food and shelter and therefore counteract biodiversity loss.
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The City of Toronto has the visionary goal of a 40% tree canopy cover by 2050 to become one of the most livable cities in the world. The City has made this event possible by generously providing all trees through a
Community Planting & Stewardship Grant for this Neighbourhood Tree Giveaway.
Therefore the trees and shrubs are for Toronto residents only and can only be planted within City boundaries.
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Scarborough Food Security Initiative has graciously allowed us to hold the tree pick-up at their
Community Farm Garden
located at 3595 St. Clair Avenue East,
on October 5th, 2024
from 10 am to 2 pm
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The Scarborough Food Security Initiative will organize a Market simultaneously with local vendors, kids' games, food & drinks, live music and more. Click here to learn more about the Scarborough Food Security Initiative and support their important work.
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​You can order free native trees/shrubs to plant on your private property within Toronto borders. Check out the offered species below and match them to your garden conditions and space. ​
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Good to know:
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All trees are native to Toronto and suited for our urban environment.
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The trees come in 1 or 2-gallon pots and are small enough to be carried home easily.
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For the long-term health of a tree, it is much better to plant younger trees than more developed trees since their root system is not damaged from growing in too small pots and becoming root-bound. When you plant any tree, make sure to open up the roots so they do not keep growing in a circle. Trees grown in nursery beds need to get their roots regularly cut and severed. The very best for the long-term success of a tree would even be to plant a few months-old saplings if you can protect them.
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In the wild, trees grow in communities. Planting in groups of at least two to three trees together on a 6-foot center is ideal. The tree roots will interlock, giving them excellent stability, and they will support each other in producing a healthy, resilient environment.
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It is best to remove the lawn generously around the tree/s and replace it with some understory trees, shrubs, ground cover, and sedges. This enables a small ecosystem to get to work; insects will complete their lifecycle in the soil because they have a soft landing when they fall off the tree and, therefore, can fulfill their role in the food web as a protein-rich food source for other wildlife, like our birds. Additionally, the soil around the root system isn't constantly compacted by mowing the lawn, so soil biology can create beneficial mutual relations with the trees and enhance their health. Check out the concept of a soft landing on Heather Holm's fantastic website.
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The soil around the tree must always be covered to stay alive and for the tree to thrive. Mulch, like wood chips or leaves, is commonly used. Even better are plants as ground cover, like wild strawberry, wild ginger, native Solomon's seal or native sedges. Rainfall on bare soil compacts the soil and causes depletion of nutrients and all beneficial soil life.
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The mulch can not touch the tree trunk, which causes rot, but should be put around in a doughnut shape.
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A pollinator garden with short plants so that the tree gets enough sunlight can also be planted around the tree and maintained as long as the tree is still small and doesn't shade the pollinator plants.
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Fall is the best time to plant a tree since it doesn't need to produce seeds, and the roots still grow as long as the soil isn't frozen.
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Spring is the second best time to plant a tree because trees don't need to deal with the stresses of the summer heat, but since they need to produce leaves and flowers, they need a lot more water to perform these tasks.
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It is imperative to protect young trees from damage. One small nick with the lawnmower will develop into a larger and larger wound as the tree grows. Trees can never heal their injuries, and the injuries will always stay a weaker entrance point for disease.
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Plant your trees and shrubs as soon as possible, best within a week.
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Call OntarioOneCall at least five days before you dig. It's the law.
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Species of the trees/shrubs are subject to availability and may change or be substituted.
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Some of the offered species are edible for humans. Please conduct thorough research on how to prepare the plant to be safe for human consumption. Also, remember that wild food is very potent. Please always test with small quantities if you might be allergic to a particular compound.
Profiles of the Powerhouse Trees
Appearance. Ecological Value. Growing Conditions.
Northern Red Oak
Quercus rubra
The Northern Red Oak is a large, hardy, long-lived shade tree and very tolerant of urban conditions. The attractive leaves often stay on the lower branches during winter and can add some privacy. Researchers believe this was a helpful defence mechanism to protect the young twigs from browsing giant sloths that went extinct about 13,000 years ago. Today oaks sustain a complex and fascinating web of wildlife and are the ecologically most productive tree. The leaves provide food for over 500 species of caterpillars. Caterpillars are crucial since they are the most important food source for birds raising their babies. E.g. one pair of chickadees needs 9,000 caterpillars within six weeks of raising their young. And oaks will produce them. To better understand how vital oaks are for our ecology, especially for birds, watch Doug Tallamy's presentation and check out his newest book, "The Nature of Oaks." Oaks are the host plant for the beautiful Hairstreak butterflies.
In fall, the leaves turn a beautiful orange and red. Once fallen, oak leaves are better mulch than wood chips. They likewise don't decompose during one season. Still, they are loose enough to offer habitat to firefly larvae, bumblebee queens, and many other beneficial insects during winter, and they are said to repel slugs and grubs.
Acorns are an abundant food source for small mammals, birds like ducks, turkeys, woodpeckers, blue jays, and even beavers and black bears. Blue Jays hide over 100 viable acorns up to one mile away from the mother tree every day for a month, making them the number one planter of oaks. Older trees often have cavities that provide shelter and nesting sites for birds and mammals.
Natural companion plants are Sugar Maple, other Oak and Hickory species, Pagoda Dogwood, Chokeberry, Asters and woodland plants.
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Large​
Height: 60+ ft
​ Width: 60+ ft
Requires full sun to partial shade
Adapts to moist and dry soil conditions
Prefers acidic soil but can grow in any soil
White Spruce/ Canadian Spruce
Picea glauca
White spruce trees are beautiful evergreens and have aromatic foliage. All evergreen trees provide superb habitat and coverage for nesting. Bark, buds, branches and huge amounts of seeds are a great food source especially in winter for birds, mammals and insects.
A spruce tree will bring a lot of life into your garden.
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Photo credit: Ryan Hodett, Nova Scotia
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​Large
Height: 60 ft
Width: 10-20 ft
Full sun to part shade
moist, well drained soil​
tolerates clay
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Sugar Maple
Acer saccharum
The sugar maple is a large shade tree with light green leaves that turn an attractive yellow-orange or fiery red in the fall. It is slow-growing and can live for more than 200 years. Sugar Maple is of great value to our native wildlife. Maples are among the first trees to bloom in spring. Even though they are wind-pollinated, they offer nectar and pollen and are vital for pollinators coming out of dormancy. The leaves feed almost 300 caterpillar species that supply amble food for breeding birds. Orioles, wrens and warblers, and various mammals eat the seeds. The twigs, buds, and bark become a lifesaving winter food source for small mammals, birds, and deer.
Sugar Maple trees draw water from lower soil layers. They exude that water into upper, drier soil layers, which benefits all the understory plants.
Great companion trees for sugar maple trees are ironwood, beech, basswood, white ash, black cherry, yellow birch, Eastern white pine, Northern red oak, and Eastern hemlock. Great understory trees are American elderberry, hazelnut, pagoda dogwood, and bush honeysuckle.
Native Solomon's seal, Canada wild ginger, wild geranium, foamflower and even wood asters, New England asters, grey goldenrod, blue stem goldenrod and zigzag goldenrod are perfect ground covers and pollinator plants underneath sugar maples.
Height: 60+ ft
Width: 40+ ft
Requires full sun to part shade
Prefers moist soil of any type
Cannot tolerate swampy conditions, salt, heavy air pollution or foot traffic
Eastern White Cedar
Thuja occidentalis
The Small, hardy evergreen tree is commonly used for privacy and is tolerant of urban conditions. It provides shelter and seeds for a variety of birds and small mammals.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/eastern-white-cedar​
https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/eastern-arborvitae/#overview
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Medium
Height: 25- 40 ft
Width: 10+ ft
Full sun to partial shade
Moist well-drained, preferably alkaline soils
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Ironwood/ Eastern Hophornbeam
Ostrya virginiana
As an understory tree, Eastern Hophornbeam can tolerate dappled shade, part shade but will also thrive in sunny conditions with enough soil moisture.
It is a great landscape tree with a slow growth rate and therefore has the hardest wood.
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Even though it is wind pollinated, it is a pollinator powerhouse. Host to giant swallowtail butterfly. Birds, small and large mammals, including humans eat their seeds.
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Golden fall colour.
For more information check out the Outdoor Learning Lab
Photo credit: By Silk666 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17943126
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Medium
Height: 25 -40 ft
Width: 15- 40 ft
Full sun to partial shade
Moist, well drained soil
Blue Beech/ Ironwood/ American Hornbeam
Carpinus caroliniana
Blue beech is closer related to birch trees than beech trees. It is native to Southern Ontario and grows naturally as an understory tree in forested areas with maples and oaks close to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Blue beech is slow growing and adaptable to urban sites.
It is a larval host plant for the eastern tiger swallowtail and the rare, beautiful woodland red-spotted purple butterfly.
Deer, beavers and other mammals browse blue beech twigs and leaves. Seeds and buds are a food source for game birds, such as turkeys and small mammals, such as squirrels. as well as songbirds.
Blue beech wood is very dense and tough and is used to make small wooden tools.
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Small
Height: 20-30 ft
Width: 20-30 ft
Full sun to full shade
Requires ample moisture, tolerates seasonal flooding, prefers rich forest soil
Photo credit: Nova
Serviceberry
Amelanchier canadensis
Serviceberry is an adaptable large shrub or small tree, depending if it is pruned to a single-stem tree or left to form a multi-stemmed shrub. Serviceberry trees put on a show of white flowers in spring and provide an excellent early-season source of pollen and nectar. The open form of the flowers allows many different kinds of bees access to its nectar. The leaves support 100 different caterpillar species, including the caterpillars of the white admiral and the Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly. The small, round, sweet berries ripen in summer. Over 40 species of birds, including orioles, bluebirds, cedar waxwings, scarlet tanagers, Northern flickers, and robins, feed on them. If the tree gets at least 4 hours of sun, it will produce a lot of berries that are edible raw and cooked, bursting in the mouth with a sweet and tart berry flavour. In fall, the leaves turn into an array of stunning colours, from orange to purple and red.
Serviceberry trees provide very high ecological value for wildlife and are beautiful year-round.
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Height:15-25 ft
Width 15-25 ft
Very adaptable to full sun and shade
Moist to dry, well drained soil of various types
Shrubs
Shrubs are essential for birds, providing cover and nutritious berries and seeds
Shrubs also offer huge amounts of nectar and pollen to bees and often bloom early
Red Osier Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Red osier dogwood is best know for it's red stems shining in the winter sun. But the shrubs is very attractive for wildlife as well. Many species of wild bees rely on its pollen and nectar in June. Clusters of white flowers provide an excellent early-season source of pollen and nectar. It allows specialist mining bees that depend on its specific pollen to reproduce but also allows a wide array of different species of bees access to its nectar through its open flower form. Many beautiful white flowers will appear again in August which provides a second set of berries for birds migrating south. The shrub feeds the caterpillars of the elegant Spring Azure butterfly as a host plant. The white berries don't last long because they are a favourite of many fruit-eating birds, including cedar waxwings, juncos and cardinals. In total 98 bird species use the shrub as habitat.
The leaves turn an attractive reddish purple in the fall.
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Height: 5-10 ft
Width 5-20 ft
Very adaptable to full sun and partial shade
Prefers moist, well-drained soils, can tolerate drier sites
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Carolina Rose
Rosa carolina
Naturally occurs on the edges of prairies, woodlands, savannas, and thickets, in upland forests, and in dunes. It flowers on second or third-year canes.
The flowers attract bees and butterflies. The showy red rose hips are a great winter food source for songbirds, wild turkeys, and small mammals. High in vitamin C, they are edible and can be used in tea or jellies.
This dense shrub provides excellent cover for wildlife year-round and attracts overwintering birds.
Carolina rose makes a great hedge, and is a fantastic addition to a butterfly and pollinator garden.
Height: 3-6 ft
Width: 4-8 ft
Requires full sun
Adaptable to moist, well-drained soil and dry soil
of various types
Common Ninebark
Physocarpus opulifolius
Common Ninebark is a wide, large, and tough shrub, tolerant of urban conditions but requires good airflow. In early summer, a sea of clusters of white flowers attract many pollinators, and their leaves feed over 30 caterpillar species, including the Cecropia silkmoth. The green leaves turn coppery-bronze in the fall, and for an all-season interest, the seed capsules persist throughout fall and winter. The birds love the seeds and the dense growing habit as a safe place.
Photo: Jean-Pol_GRANDMONT
Height: 8 ft
Width: 8 ft
Best grown in full sun but can tolerate partial sun.
Moist to dry soil of various types
Arrowwood Viburnum
Viburnum dentatum
Arrowwood Viburnum is a dense, small shrub with clusters of white flowers that mainly offer pollen in early summer to small native bees. It likes medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Arrowwood is the larval host plant for the Spring Azure butterfly. The berries feed and attract many birds, including Eastern Bluebird, Northern Flicker, Gray Catbird, and American Robin. Prune soon after flowering to ensure blooms in the following year. The leaves display beautiful fall colours, coral, red or purple.
Height: 5-7 ft
Width: 5-7 ft
Very adaptable to full sun and partial shade
Prefers acidic soil but can grow in moist to medium well-drained soil
of various types
Northern Bush Honeysuckle
Diervilla lonicera
A hardy shrub with small yellow trumpet-shaped flowers tolerant of various conditions.
Mounded, Multi-stemmed, Thicket-forming. Bees, butterflies and other pollinators love the plant’s nectar and pollen. Check out the great article about honeysuckle on www.wildseedproject.net
Height: 3 ft
Width: 3-12 ft
Very adaptable to full sun and partial shade
Moist to dry soil of various types
How to Support Your Tree for best Growth and Health
All the offered trees and shrubs are quite easy to grow and are adapted to our climate and urban stresses. It is still important to find the right tree for your needs and the right location in your yard for your tree.
Finding the right spot
What should the purpose of your tree be?
Space, sun and moisture determine greatly which species can grow in a given spot.
Planting Your Tree
Trees and shrubs are best planted in fall. It is most important to loosen and open up the roots in the root ball. If they have grown in a circular motion they will stay that way but become bigger and eventually strangle the tree. By taking care while planting, you can significantly increase your tree's resilience, health and the age your tree can reach.
Caring for Your Tree
Deep Watering!
It is essential to help develop a healthy root system in the first years. Keep the hose close to the tree on a slow trickle for 15 minutes to allow the water to infiltrate deep into the soil. Then, move the hose and repeat three times so that all four corners are well watered. This will encourage the tree to develop a deep rather than a shallow root system which makes your tree more resilient to drought and storms.
Fall Order is now closed
We reached our 800 granted trees and shrubs.
Thank you all for spreading the word and ordering.