Montreal’s Jarry Park helps give Christmas trees a second life

No, it’s not Christmas again – but there are Christmas trees filling Jarry Park in Montreal’s Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough. And what if I told you they’re serving a real purpose here – helping the environment? It’s an ephemeral forest.

The initiative helps celebrate the 100th anniversary of Jarry Park, founded in 1925.

“In order to celebrate the park, we decided to invite people to bring their Christmas trees with all the decorations off and to create a small short-term forest in the park,” said Michel Lafleur, president of Coalition des Amis du Parc Jarry.

“Now we can see that it’s growing, we can see that it’s very nice to have trees in the park,” he added.

The trees are planted directly in the snow, in the area in front of the outdoor skating rinks near the Jarry pool, and placed in tree stands set up on site.

Montrealer Shelly Garinther was one of many who brought a tree to Jarry Park.

“I heard about it through the email from the arrondissement, so that we could bring our tree instead of having the garbage truck come and collect it, and with my son, I thought it would be a nice activity to make the park nicer,” she said.

Some say this project brings people together.

“I think that’s a great idea. I come skating here in Jarry Park, and I saw that some people were carrying the trees. I wondered why. I didn’t think they’d be planted to have a third life. I think it’s really great,” said Montrealer Normand Gougeon.

“It’s really nice. I even see people coming, and sometimes the trees have fallen over in the wind. And then they put them right back up. They take care of them; it’s really nice to see,” he added.

“It just creates community and gets people out in the cold. Another activity that we can do,” added Garinther.

People are also encouraged to hang a note, greeting, or wish on a tree for those who will visit the park in a century’s time, like one that reads “hoping for a better future.”

“We find it interesting because, like one of the years ago, Montrealers invested to create this park, and over the years, the park has been improved. Now we have a nice pond, and there are more trees than before,” Lafleur expressed.

“Now it’s for us to decide what type of park we want to carry on to future generations. So if we want to have big trees, well, it’s time to plant them today. Not tonight, but today,” he added.

Lafleur spoke about the importance of this initiative, saying, “For us, it’s important that people realize this is their park and they have to enjoy it as much as they can. And so I think it’s important to promote the attachment of people in the neighborhood to the park. Even though, from what the message is that we can read now, I mean, we feel it’s clear that people really love the park. You know, like one wish is, ‘Oh, we hope that you will have for future generations, we hope that you will have nice moments with friends and family as we have now.’ So I think it’s to show the attachment of the people for this beautiful park in the neighborhood.”

“I think it shows that people want a park that is close to nature. People want to have trees in the parks. And so I think, you know, it’s a kind of nice gesture to express this intention,” he added.

The borough will recycle the trees, saying it’s a great way to give your tree a second life and dispose of it in an eco-responsible way.

“It’s actually maybe the third life, you know, after the forest, after your living room, and now the park. And eventually, the borough will take them and recycle them by making, for example, wood chips. So there’ll be four lives,” said Lafleur.

Residents can plant their trees in Jarry Park until Jan. 12. Currently, there are around 65 trees planted, with hopes for more.

“We hope that we will reach 100. You know, it’s the 100th anniversary of the park, so it won’t be 100 candles, but that will be 100 Christmas trees,” said Lafleur.