This is big news! Well, I mean, for us. In the grand scheme of things, it probably hardly registers, but for a small family-run tree service in Barrie, Ontario, this is like top-of-the-list excitement. What started in 2020 as a way to give back to our community and support and sustain our urban canopy, has finally become the full-scale program we hoped it would one day be, because we love trees and we love having them where we live.
In anything, there's always a learning curve, and with that came some necessary adjustments. At its inception, the Free Tree Project was the provision of a free tree to anyone who removed a tree of a certain size or larger. Seeing the need to decrease administrative time and also wanting to impact more people, we pivoted to providing several free trees simultaneously for "Free Tree Day" semi-annually at local elementary schools. This was obviously much more fun for our crew, entertaining entire classes of 4-8 year olds, teaching them about trees, how to plant them properly, and their importance; but we still wanted to reach more people!
In comes 2024! And with the discovery of a new supplier, we are now finally able to provide one free tree (of varying native species!) to every single customer. They might not be as big as the first ones we delivered back in 2020, but there are certainly more of them. And given the number of pruning, hedge trimming, planting, stump grinding, and cabling jobs we do, I suspect by the end of the season we will have given out more trees than we remove - which will be amazing!
We can't expect people not to remove trees on their property. Sometimes its necessary, sometimes its just a personal preference, but either way its going to happen. But what we can do is encourage people to replant - and to share our love of trees. Especially with the school plantings, we see an opportunity to teach the next generation early on how great trees are. And we are very much hoping each of our little baby seedlings will be planted, cared for, and enjoyed for decades to come.
So if you're looking for an arborist near you who loves trees - look no further! Give us a call for your free quote today.
