The Town of Essex is moving forward with plans to establish a municipal tree nursery after a sweeping inventory of nearly 4,700 urban trees revealed concerns about species diversity, aging trees, and storm resilience.
The inventory, conducted across public lands in Essex’s urban centres, found that about 40 per cent of the trees are maples — with silver maples alone accounting for more than 19 per cent. The report, presented to council on Monday, estimated the total value of the inventoried trees at more than $18.6 million.
Mayor Sherry Bondy said the initiative is rooted in the town’s recent experience with damaging storms.
“It’s really good. Now we have data, information on the trees that we have on public property in the Town of Essex,” said Bondy.
“The catalyst to doing all this was the storms, when we had so many trees fall down over power lines and break. And we had to do a lot of clean up. So now we want to inventory our trees, know where they are, what condition they are in, and start planting and planning for the future.”
Council approved more than $45,000 for the tree nursery project, with $30,000 of that coming from a grant by Enbridge Gas. Another $26,784 was reallocated from a previous capital project to help remove hazardous trees identified in the assessment.
“We have a list of trees that need to be removed in the near future and then trees to watch out for,” said Bondy.
“And now we can say, ‘okay, it’s going to cost this much and budget accordingly for it.’ And it’s one of those things, an ounce of prevention is worth it.”
Bondy said the nursery is a proactive measure to ensure the municipality is better equipped for future storms and the spread of invasive species.
“You never know which disease is going to come through, which invasive species is going to come through,” she said.
“So, we need to make sure we’re planting species that are indigenous to our area. We want to be prepared if there’s another big storm that comes through, knocks down trees. Now, we’ll be more prepared.”
Bondy added that the ability to grow the town’s own trees will likely lead to long-term savings.
“Every time you go purchase a tree, it’s very expensive. So, growing our own will hopefully save us money,” she said.
“It’s almost one of those ‘too good to be true’ things. We’d always hoped to have a greenhouse that we can grow our own plants. We’ll see cost savings down the line is the hope. It may initially take some startup costs and maybe even more staff hours. But we know that we need more trees.”
The project’s approval mid-budget year signals growing urgency and enthusiasm, Bondy said.
“It came back in the middle of a budget year. So that means staff are excited as well,” she said.
“So, it has really become a priority. Every time we talk about development and potentially losing trees, we want to make sure that we’re replacing more trees than the trees that are coming down.”
The report and council’s discussion also resonated with community members like Harrow resident Rachael Mills, who said she was encouraged to see the town taking tree management seriously.
“Seeing that trees are back in the conversation at this level, being with the Town of Essex Council was really encouraging and exciting,” she said.
Mills said she was particularly struck by the report’s inclusion of a dollar value on the urban forest.
“They did put a monetary value on that, which was maybe one of the first times I’ve ever heard that, and it really will help shift the perspective and perception of hopefully other councils as well and the public,” she said.
“Maybe monetary value wasn’t always something that we considered when we think about trees, but now it’s definitely something in the conversation that might hit and resonate with new people.”
She added that the report reinforces the importance of long-term planning and responsible development.
“It just provides an idea that they aren’t just decoration, they aren’t just there for fun,” she said.
“I think that’s a really big step in the right direction, especially when you consider sustainable growth and making sure that we are stewards of the land, as we plan for growth and communities, which is really everywhere.”
The town has not yet announced when the new tree nursery will begin construction.
