This year, Tree Canada is planning the biggest National Tree Day yet! And our hope is that Canadians will be able to celebrate the many benefits that trees provide, even if they’re not able to join one of our community events. Whether you’re planting trees or not, we encourage you to consider honouring trees with your loved ones, and members of your community on September 21st and beyond.
We’ve put together this guide to help you plan your own National Tree Day event.
Celebration Ideas
There are so many ways to show your appreciation for trees and forests – no celebration is too small! National Tree Day is meant to be inclusive and fun, so here are a few ideas to help inspire you:
- Plant trees: Whether you’re planting in a yard or organizing a larger event in your community, our tree planting guide is a great place to start.
- Take care of trees: Find a tree that needs a bit of maintenance – for example, watering, mulching or fertilizing – and give it some much-needed TLC.
- Clean up a local green space: Help your local park, urban forest or creek shine by organizing a cleanup event to remove garbage and maybe even some invasive plants (be sure to wear safety gear and check with local authorities for permission)
- Meet your neighbourhood trees: Gather a group of friends or family to walk around your neighbourhood, identify different trees using a reference guide or app, and learn more about each species.
- Take a bath…in the forest: Also known as forest therapy, the practice of “bathing” in a forest atmosphere is all about mindfully and slowly taking in the forest through all your senses.
- Celebrate among the trees: From picnics to yoga to playing music, enhance your National Tree Day event by holding it under a tree in your favourite park or green space.
- Get inspiration from nature: Whether you’re artistically gifted or not, use trees as your muse to draw, paint, take photos or make crafts from fallen pinecones, leaves, and other tree debris.
- Hug a tree: if you’re short on time and ideas, an old-fashioned hug is always a good way to express your love for trees!
Promoting Your Celebration
Once you’ve decided how to mark National Tree Day, it’s time to get the word out. And of course, this all depends on whether you’re organizing a public or private event. As we’ve done in previous years, our National Tree Day Map allows event organizers to promote their event (even the private ones) and share it with the world. So, let others know about your event by registering it on our website.
National Tree Day Celebration Contest
Want to plant more trees in your community? This year, Tree Canada is offering National Tree Day event organizers a chance to win a free tree planting event in 2023!
To enter the contest, all you have to do is:
1. Organize a National Tree Day celebration between September 21-25 (check out our organizer toolkit for ideas and helpful resources)
2. Register your National Tree Day celebration on our event registry
3. Share a photo of your event with the hashtag #CelebrateNTD
The winner will be drawn at random and notified via email on September 28, 2022.
During the 2023 planting season, Tree Canada will contact the winner to organize a tree planting event valued at up to $6,000 in their community (depending on site availability). Tree Canada will secure a suitable planting site and manage all tree planting logistics for up to 20 people. The number and species of trees to be planted will depend on site location and environmental conditions. The winner is responsible for securing volunteer planters for the event.
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