BY PAUL MITCHELLNorth Country This Week

CANTON – The Canton Village Tree Committee continues its quest to enhance the natural; beauty of the village by offering 15 or so free trees to be planted on Gouverneur Street this fall.

The committee is reaching out to Gouverneur Street property owners willing to have a tree planted between the residence or business and sidewalk.

If you are interested then please send your name, address and email and phone number to: Canton Tree Committee Chair Lance W Rudiger at lrudiger@aol.com.

“This year about 15 trees are planned for that area, so although you may not be selected for this opportunity, your information will be kept for further plantings. Canton Village has planted literally hundreds of trees in the past few years,” Rudiger told North Country This Week.

“If you have a tree that is newly planted, it is critical for success to water the tree on a regular basis (every few days) the first year, and water when things are dry in warm months. Watering needs to be  maintained beginning in May and ending in September. The greatest cause of failure is usually lack of water or damage from weed eaters, lawn mowers and human interference,” he noted.

The Canton Village Tree Committee implemented a tree program around 2010 and has planted numerous trees throughout the village since then.

“Since the Village created the Tree Committee we looked at the village trees and decided to first direct attention to the entrances. Of course, the NYS project of road construction helped to replant a lot on Main Street from Stewart's to the light at the Cascade. We were able to pretty much plant the rest of Main Street/Route 68 from that light to the village border at Coakley's. State Street, Riverside Drive, Park Street were also pretty much planted,” Rudiger said.

“All the entrances to Canton have flowering crabapple trees planted. That left Gouverneur Street which was not very picturesque. I approached SUNY Canton and St Lawrence and they were thrilled to hear that an improvement was planned for that entrance--especially considering graduation time when flowering trees and green trees on that Route 11 entrance would be blossoming. This is an effort to try to continue on that improvement path.”

The tree planting program is funded from various grants and also village support.

“We are hoping to make people aware of the overall project and also get some applications we might have not thought of or missed. We hope to plant again in the spring and fall of each year but the emphasis on location will vary as to need. The Gouverneur Street planting have had a focus on flowering trees and also specimen trees,” Rudiger stated.

He said last year the Tree Committee replaced all the missing trees for Main Street and plantings on Rt. 68 and in the parks. Since the Tree Committee was created literally hundreds of trees have been planted in the village.

“When a front yard tree is cut we ask that the homeowner contact us if they wish to have a replacement. It is not a guarantee but most of the requests get fulfilled,” he said.