Coquitlam is asking residents to help out when it comes to watering new street and park trees this summer.
Water bags have been installed on 3,400 young trees and city staff will fill them regularly to ensure the saplings have enough water to get them through the drier months.
However, Lanny Englund, the city's urban forest and parks services manager, said residents can pitch in by filling the bags during their routine watering if there is a bag nearby in their neighbourhood.
"Our resources allow us to provide enough water to help the trees make it through the summer," he said. "From an ideal perspective, they can use filling more often if residents are keen and interested. It would be great for the trees by just filling the bags."
The majority of the new trees are in the Burke Mountain neighbourhood, but Englund said that with redevelopment more are popping up in other areas of the city. According to a press release, instructional letters have been mailed to residents near the saplings.
For younger trees, it is important that they stay watered during the summer, which is why the watering bags were introduced in 2015. Englund said that the bags allow the water to slowly release over time, mimicking natural rain fall.
"They are a really effective way of watering the trees," he said. "It releases it slowly so we don't lose any of the water from evaporation and run off. There is little to know loss of water."
The tree watering bags will remain in place between now and September, when they are expected to be removed for the fall and reused next summer.
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