Blogs

Wildlife such as birds, mammals, bees and butterflies are an important part of the urban forest. In fact, urban trees and wildlife are interdependent, which means that the wellbeing of one intrinsically impacts the other. For example, trees provide food and shelter for birds, who then help distribute seeds and eat unwanted insect pests.

I always knew that I wanted a career that allowed me to work outside and feel like I was making a tangible difference for our environment. In 2021, I was lucky to join a great team of like-minded people at LEAF and work toward our common goal of growing the urban forest.

We all want the same thing for our newly planted trees – for them to get the best start to life in their new home. As such, we often want to provide them with as much support as possible, including staking. While these actions are typically well-intended, staking a young tree isn’t always necessary and may cause more damage than good. So how do you know if your tree needs a stake, when to stake it and how to do it properly? Thankfully, we are here to tell you everything you need to know about staking your young tree:

Should I stake my tree?

Soak up the first signs of spring while enhancing habitat for local pollinators with these buzzing species: 

Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) 

Looking to turn your yard into a pollinator hot spot? The small, bright, pink-purple flowers of the eastern redbud emerge in clusters on bare branches in early spring – even before their leaves! All sorts of bees, butterflies and birds are attracted to the early pop of colour, including sweat bees, digger bees, zebra swallowtails and ruby-throated hummingbirds.