October 23, 2024
Green charities plant trees in Halifax park
The Green Cities Foundation (GCF) teamed up with Hope Blooms on Aug. 8 for a special Community Planting Day at Uniacke Square at Murray Warrington Park in Halifax, N.S.
The large group of about 100 volunteers planted 20 trees to create more shaded areas around the campus of Hope Blooms, which is a Halifax-based social enterprise empowering youth through urban gardening, food production and entrepreneurship. It fosters community development, providing fresh produce and opportunities while promoting sustainability and social justice.
“We always love collaborating and finding new ways to make our community better — just like this, planting trees, you can’t beat that,” said Kolade Kolawole-Boboye, manager of social business and innovation at Hope Blooms. “A lot of blue shirts appeared, and we got straight to work.”
GCF director David Thompson said events like these are perfect examples of what the foundation was set up to support. “I think I worked with about 15 or 20 different kids shovelling dirt and planting trees. It was just a lot of fun,” Thompson said. “Planting these trees contributes to the green spaces that are in this part of the city, supports a wonderful community organization and fits right in the Green Cities Foundation’s sweet spot.”
The event concluded with the planting of a red oak tree to memorialize Peggy Godfrey, who was a pioneer of Landscape Nova Scotia. The Godfrey family owns several garden centres and have always been exceptional with engaging their community. Peggy was a regular at the International Garden Centres Association’s annual Congress. She passed away at the 2023 Congress in Italy. She was happy to see all her grandkids in attendance, to carry on her legacy of involvement with elevating the garden centre community across the world.
The Godfrey family chose to plant a red oak to honour Peggy because it’s native to Nova Scotia “like my mother,” said Peggy’s son, Robin Godfrey. Godfrey added that a red oak “attracts a lot of insects, which doesn’t damage the tree, and because of that it attracts a lot of birds. It is a strong tree and creates a lot of habitat.”
Speaking to the nearly 100 volunteers, Godfrey thanked everyone for participating in the community planting. “I really appreciate it, my family appreciates it, and I’m glad you are all here to take part in this.”
Thank you to the following companies that supported this project: Atlantic Gardens, Lakeland Plant World, Maritime Landscape Services, Nature's Reflections Landscaping, The Greene Hallway, Tidal Tractor and Tytan Glove and Safety. Additional thanks to RBC Insurance for their support of the #GreenMyCity program in communities across Canada.