Royal Botanical Gardens asks for used Christmas trees to reinforce local creeks

The Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is thinking past Christmas and into the future for its ecosystems by asking for used Christmas tree donations.

Canada’s largest botanical garden is asking community members for real tree donations to repurpose and place into the banks of the Chedoke and Grindstone Creeks.

The RBG has been running the project for over 20 years, planting over 175,000 trees to stabilize the flow of the water during high-water events.

This year the RBG is seeking to stabilize the shoreline and rebuild parts of Cootes Paradise, and rebuilding the Spencer Creek channel.

The National Historic Site is collecting a maximum of 3,000 trees this holiday season, and while staff did not say if they’re accepting just any type of tree, spruce and fir species are preferred.

“For a quarter century the Christmas Tree barrier program at RBG has been a leading example for other conservation organizations” said Dr. David Galbraith, the director of
science at the RBG in a statement. “Unlike earthen berms they can be modified or removed relatively easily, and they become colonized over time with plants and other life, providing new habitat.”

Trees drop off locations can be found on Spring Garden Road in Burlington, and Old Guelph Road in Hamilton.

The program has become so popular that community members must pre-register to drop off their trees, which can be done on the RBG’s official website.

Tree drop offs begin Dec. 29, until Jan. 11.

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