Glenelm Neighbourhood Association || Winnipeg, Mb
“When neighbours band together, there’s no telling what the community can accomplish.”
See Sheldon Birnie’s great article in The Herald about Glenelm’s first neighbourhood-wide tree banding campaign!
Glenelm residents band together to protect namesake: Tree banding effort to cover neighbourhood
Folks had so much fun during our inaugural Front Yard Friday in June that we’re doing it again.
Next Friday, August 28, head outside at 6pm, eat supper in your front yard and connect with your neighbours at a safe distance.
Here are some ideas on how to participate!
Or simply head outside and see who’s around!
It’s Tree Banding Time!
Volunteer block captains are currently delivering tree banding order forms in most parts of Glenelm! Watch for the green forms and help make our first neighbourhood-wide banding effort a success!
Anti-Dutch Elm Disease Injections
You might come across one of these peculiar setups while out on your neighbourhood rambles this week. What is it, you ask? It’s a fungicidal application from a company called Arbortect that we are doing to help protect key trees in our neighbourhood. Our awesome partners-in-tree-love Green Drop have once again stepped up for us and have agreed to do all the labour involved in the application free of charge! Woo!
We scanned the neighbourhood for elms that are in key locations – that is, locations where, according to the City’s planting guidelines, a replacement tree would not be approved. The fungicide will help the tree resist the fungus that the elm bark beetle brings for three years.
Just one more tool in the arsenal of tricks to help us protect our urban forest. 
We’ll also still be planting new trees in vacant locations on our boulevards. More info/dates to come on that.
A Tree Map of Our Own!
One of our talented Glenelm neighbours, Jocelynn Johnson, is a mapping expert and created this super cool map of all the public trees in the neighbourhood. It is based on open data from the City of Winnipeg and we’re excited for the ways it may help us to track banding and injection efforts or other tree-related endeavours.
It’s also a great way to identify trees that you’re curious about! Each tree is represented by a circle, each species is a different colour, and the bigger the circle, the bigger the tree.
Check it out and let us know what you think!
Fall ReLeaf Program from Trees Winnipeg
If you missed the Spring 2020 ReLeaf program, don’t despair! There is a fall program with four beautiful species (dogwood, cherry, hackberry and basswood) waiting for homes in your yard! These trees are just $55 each and come with all the information you need to plant and care for them. ***Deadline for orders is September 11, 2020***
Learn more at http://treeswinnipeg.org/releaf-tree-planting-program/
On July 25th, a one-day, one-block street makeover took place on Henderson Hwy between Noble and Hart.
The event was organized by Reimagine Elmwood, a grassroots committee of 7 community groups including GeNA, the Chalmers Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation and the Elmwood Business Coalition.
Over the course of the afternoon, more than 100 people came out to experience a temporary “happier Henderson” with an added crosswalk, protected bike lane, street furniture, flowers and trees. There was even a small sidewalk sale by a local business!
Reception from those in attendance was overwhelmingly positive and the event was covered by several media outlets. Check out this article in The Herald and this clip from CTV. Big thanks to our community partners, all the hardworking volunteers who helped out all day in the sweltering heat and Councillor Jason Schreyer for his valued support.
Learn more about Reimagine Elmwood here!
On July 18th, we were delighted to learn about planting and caring for young trees while adding new ones to Roxy Park! Thanks to a generous donation of ReLeaf trees from Trees Winnipeg and donated labour and wisdom from Justin and Grant of Green Drop, there are 7 new beautiful and interesting trees in the park. The species are cork, bur oak, maple, cherry and mountain ash and are easily spotted since they are staked and protected by wire.
Special thanks to Trees Winnipeg, Green Drop and the City of Winnipeg Parks and Urban Forestry departments for making this event possible – and to all those who attended this casual event!
On June 16th, GeNA was pleased to host a free webinar on composting: everything you need to know to start and get great at composting! Thanks to the knowledgeable staff at the Green Action Centre, about 40 curious participants learned the basics of what you can compost, the importance of “greens and browns”, different options for bins and much more.
We now know the answers to the questions:
The event was funded thanks to a generous TD Park People Grant. Watch for another great grant event coming in September!
Big thanks to all who worked at making Glenelm a welcoming place for pollinators this summer! Enjoy these photos and write-ups shared with GeNA following our webinar on bee-friendly gardening.
Above: “We’ve been planting yellow flowers to attract bees and it worked immediately!!!” — Sandy B.
Above: “Just a few pictures of our pollinators here on Talbot Ave. We moved here 4 years ago and transformed our front into a historical front garden full of flowers and so many beneficial bugs. We also have water available for all during dry spells and for fun I raise black swallowtail caterpillars and release the butterflies after they emerge.” –Deanna S.
Above: “In order to make my garden pollinator friendly, I have chosen plants that bloom from early spring to late fall thus providing food on a continuum for pollinators.
The first plants to come up are several types of blooming ground cover that attract pollinators (like vinca major and lamium varities) then the peonies and poppies start, followed by the milkweed, bachelor buttons, other poppy varieties, day lilies, hosta blooms, false sunflowers, coneflowers, bee balm, balsam impatiens, gooseneck loosestrife, sunflowers and then the asters arrive in late August well until hard frost.
Besides planting flowers that provide food from spring to fall, I have planted red clover on my boulevard, have a bird and pollinator watering dish, and a bee/butterfly combination house for loner bees and butterflies.
I also cultivate swallow tail butterflies from when their eggs are laid on my dill until they emerge from their cocoons … increasing their population and protecting them from predators.” — Sherryl K
Above: “My family was given a milkweed plant to add to our garden. Lucky for us, there was a monarch butterfly chrysalis attached to it. We kept the plant safe on our porch while on ‘chrysalis watch’ for several days, and marveled at how the chrysalis looked like a magical gem. And even better, we were there at the moment as the butterfly emerged, watched it stretch and dry its wings, and then said goodbye as we released it. It was truly miraculous thing to witness! We can’t wait to see if we get more next year.” — Emma DW
These two videos below were created by Rodj D and his family, who had a “monarch nursery” and welcomed many butterflies into the world this summer!
Just a heads-up that Block Captains will be out distributing bright green tree banding order forms in the next week or two.
We’d love for our first neighbourhood-wide banding effort to be a big success so please consider banding your own trees and chipping in to help band public trees on our boulevards and in our parks!
Questions can be directed to trees@glenelm.ca.
Anyone else feeling discouraged by the number of “orange dots of death” that have appeared on our neighbourhood elms over the last few weeks?
Or perhaps you’re feeling extra grateful for the shade that our big leafy trees provide, especially on the hottest days of summer?
We’ve heard from so many of our Glenelm neighbours that you want to do more to preserve our valuable urban forest, but we need your help. If you’ve been looking for a way to get involved in protecting Glenelm’s trees – here is your opportunity!
Tree banding time is fast approaching, and GeNA would like to support a neighbourhood-wide banding effort. Banding helps keep our trees healthy and strong and better able to fight off pests and disease.
Here’s where you come in.
GeNA is looking for folks to take on the role of Tree Banding Block Captains. Block Captains will be responsible for:
Ideally, Block Captains will either be at home the majority of the time so they can accept payment, or have a mail slot instead of a box to discourage theft. You will also need to be available to oversee the banding on your block.
The bands need to go up by mid-September, so there’s a short turnaround time on this.
If you are interested in learning more or volunteering as a Block Captain for your street (or even one side or section of your block) we invite you to come to a short meeting on Tuesday, August 11th, taking place outdoors at The Big Red Church (127 Cobourg) at 7pm. We will meet in the church yard – please bring a lawn chair so that we can keep safe distance.
If you can’t make it to the meeting but would like more information, or to sign up to serve as a Block Captain, please email glenelmcommunity@gmail.com and let us know.
Please help make our first Glenelm-wide banding effort a success by sharing your time, enthusiasm and good ideas with your fellow neighbours!
