Trees and other green spaces are extremely valuable for our quality of life. Not only is a nice walk through a forested area a balm for our souls, but living in harmony with nature will improve your health and increase your longevity of life. Good landscaping will save your money on your heating and cooling bills and will also increase the value of your property.
Trees have many other benefits which we often do not think about. They contribute to the health of our planet and help to fight against climate change. Trees have the ability to capture and store carbon in their biomass - their roots, branches and even their stumps. Even more exciting is that the older a tree is, the better it can absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Research has shown that almost 70% of the carbon stored in trees is accumulated in the last half of their lives.
It is only a theory, but it is thought that older trees will store more carbon because they are at the top of the tree canopy and thus have consistent access to the sun. However, it is not just the height of a tree that is important, as trees will store more carbon in proportion to their size. This happens through the process of photosynthesis, where the trees will take the energy from the sun, and along with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, will convert it into carbon based sugars that is then stored in the tree and allows the tree to do its daily work.
It is especially important as we are now well aware of the importance of reducing emissions and reversing the effects of climate change. If you think about it, every time we use energy we are responsible for producing greenhouse gases. Driving our cars, heating and cooling our homes, turning on a light, operating farm machinery are just a few of the ways we contribute to climate change every day of our lives.
With this thought in mind, the Shand Greenhouse was built in 1991 adjacent to the Shand Power Station. The goal of building this greenhouse was to aid in offsetting the environmental impacts of generating electricity for Saskatchewan communities. There are many other benefits of this greenhouse including the improvement of land conservation, reclamation, phytoremediation, shelterbelts and to provide new habitat for wildlife. Also, this program provides afforestation of portions of Saskatchewan in order to assist in the mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions.
Shand Greenhouse is investing in our environment by producing native plants and then distributing these tree and shrub seedlings free-of-charge to Saskatchewan not-for-profit organizations, service clubs, conservation groups and individual land owners. There are some eligibility criteria for you to qualify for free trees. Please go to the website here, for complete information. You can tour Shand Greenhouse by appointment anytime between 8am and 4:30pm Monday through Friday, from July to September or from January to April. They grow trees, shrubs and native plants utilizing waste heat generated by Shand Power Station and have now grown and distributed 12.5 million seedlings to date.
Hanbidge is the Lead Horticulturist with Orchid Horticulture. Find us at www.orchidhort.com; by email at info@orchidhort.com; on Facebook @orchidhort and on Instagram at #orchidhort. Tune into GROW Live on our Facebook page or check out the Youtube channel GROW.
