City saves green, goes green with new nursery

Fredericton’s parks and trees division saves seeds, grows trees to bolster biodiversity

The City of Fredericton now has its own tree nursery, establishing its own reliable source of seedlings and endeavouring to preserve and maintain biodiversity in the capital, city hall says.

The new nursery opened in March, the municipality said in a news release Wednesday, and staff from the parks and trees division are now growing seedlings from seeds collected last fall and this spring from native species in the city.

Among them are white spruce, sugar maple black walnut and red oak.

The City of Fredericton’s new tree nursery, with environmentally friendly greenhouse, is located along Two Nations Crossing on the north side. (Photo: City of Fredericton)

Coun. Kevin Darrah, chairman of the city’s environment committee, said the initiative enables the city to be more proactive in terms of environmental priorities, but also to be more fiscally responsible in the long run.

“We want to preserve local biodiversity, while alleviating shipping and supply constraints,” he said in the release.

“Not only will this project reduce the city’s carbon footprint by eliminating the annual transportation of trees and associated emissions, it will also allow our parks and trees division to plant more trees.”

The new greenhouse can contain up to 5,000 seedlings, the city reported, though some of them will be planted in a nearby nursery bed so new and more seedlings can be accommodated in the greenhouse. 

Once the seedlings mature, the trees will be planted along city streets as part of the city’s annual tree-planting program, the release said.

“We want to locally source our trees so we can have more control over what we’re planting and where each tree is coming from,” said Keanen Jewett, a foreman with the parks and trees department. 

“It’s also important to choose a tree species that will thrive in our climate.”

The city’s greenhouse facility is a zero-emissions building, the release said, and it’s powered by solar panels on a nearby office building. 

Among its features, the city said, are natural lighting, irrigation and temperature control using an “earth battery,” which is essentially a series of perforated pipes within a large volume of sand in the foundation of the greenhouse. 

“The earth battery is used as an underground thermal mass that stores and releases heat, eliminating the need for carbon intensive fossil-fuel heating inside the greenhouse,” the release said.

The nursery is located on Two Nations Crossing on Fredericton’s north side, city hall said.

The Fredericton Independent can be reached at ftonindependent@gmail.com.