Hello and thank you, Readers, for your engagement and enthusiastic support and sharing! We are so appreciative and encouraged.

It is so very exciting and gratifying to hear back that our Readers are curious to learn more – our new Menu item now lists Qs (Questions) from Readers – and that many of you are actively engaged already in tree planting projects for the environment. Thank you. Please keep sharing your stories, news about what you are learning and doing, and any As (Answers) that you are able to contribute toward our shared learning journey.

We would like to devote this Thursday’s blog post to sharing one Reader’s tree story from Victoria, British Columbia.

FEATURE: Wanda’s Japanese Garden:  🙏

Since Canada’s 150th Birthday in 2017 Wanda has taken advantage of the milder coastal climate, zone 8, to create a Japanese garden in her Oak Bay yard. When we asked her where the inspiration for this project came from, this is what she had to say:

“First, I wanted to create a serene space that felt like a sanctuary…..a quiet space to sit and contemplate in peace, with only the birds & pond trickle as sound. Also I wanted a garden that was in its fullest glory in the spring & fall rather than annual summer blooms. The components of a Japanese garden: water, rock, pines, maples and moss are abundant, naturally, as part of the environment of Vancouver Island thus available to purchase at any garden centre (or gravel mart in the case of slate slabs). A pond was already successfully established in the yard thus a water feature with goldfish were just waiting for the other components. I did have to search various garden centres for specific types of Japanese maples however eventually found the varieties I was looking to procure. Now, It is time to learn patience and just let it grow without the temptation of adding more plants…sometimes, less is more.”

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With the huge Linden tree as a backdrop, Wanda added the following Japanese maple trees that show these vibrant colours in the autumn:  the red Ribbon-Leaf, the orange Viridi, the red Twilight, the red Osakazuki, the yellow Sangi, thehardy Bloodgood which is purple in summer and blood red in fall, and Sango-kaku or coral bark maple. She also planted the Clancy Japanese White Pine, two Evergreen Magnolias, and Pagoda Dogwood all seen in the lovely photos of Wanda’s serene, colourful sanctuary.

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Other exciting tree news from the west coast –  In September 2019 Victoria’s Mayor joined the United Nation’s Trees In Cities Challenge promising to plant 5000 trees on public and private land by the end of 2020. Victoria is the first city in Canada to join the pledge, and join in a global movement of cities that are embracing ‘nature based solutions’ to climate change.  https://bit.ly/2X9xOxI

Vancouver is ranked highly using MIT’s Treepedia method of calculating canopy cover in 27 selected cities in its ranking list, as reported in this article on “Green Cities,” in the UK’s The Guardian, https://bit.ly/2O0pX1w.

  Thank you for reading – we hope you will check back regularly.

Our focus for next Thursday’s blog post will be on profiling more Tree Planting initiatives underway in other cities across Canada. That’s the good news story. We also will spotlight recent action by scientists calling for greater urgency and action by governments, businesses, organizations and citizens around the world to address what they now call the “climate crisis” that is threatening humanity and the environment. That’s the “much more to do” news story, which we are motivated to keep learning and sharing with our Readers here at Friends4Trees4Life!