REAL’s first mini forest was planted in 2024 at Hyland/Corbett Park, Smiths Falls. The Town of Smiths Falls provided space at the north end of the park, and REAL coordinated the building of the forest.
What is a Mini Forest. A Mini-Forest, also known as a micro or little forest, is a community of native trees and shrubs planted tightly together and based on the Miyawaki method. This method emphasizes the use of dense plantings, diverse locally-native species, soil preparation, and multilayered design to mimic the complexity of a native forest. This dense planting technique results in taller plants in a shorter time period.
Benefits. Mini-Forests offer both environmental and social benefits, from reducing air pollution to increasing biodiversity, and providing habitat for wildlife. They provide much needed green spaces for people to enjoy, offering mental health benefits and improving air quality. Mini-Forests also help reduce runoff, prevent flooding and mitigate urban island heat.
Volunteers. Volunteers from the community helped prepared the forest floor on April 13, and many returned to help plant on Saturday, October 5 .
Soil Preparation, Saturday, April 13. The forest floor was prepared on April 13, with layers of cardboard, leaves, compost and woodchips over the 100 square meter area. The layers were left for six months to develop into good forest soil.
Planting Day Saturday, October 5. The plants were delivered that Saturday by Diggin’ It Nursery. Organizers had laid out a grid with string the day before. The plants were colour coded with flags to indicate which were canopy, subcanopy/tree, understory or shrubs. Volunteers of all ages came out to put in the 300 plants. After receiving some training on how to properly plant, the volunteers were directed to a square on the grid and planted three plants, each from a different category. Thank you to everyone who participated!
More photos of October 5 are available on our Facebook page, REAL – Rideau Environmental Action League.
Planting Day October 5, 2024:
Site Preparation April 13, 2024:
Mini Forest Opening April 17, 2024:
Resources
The Tiny Forest Movement, CBD Storylines , October 13, 2024
Fast Forest: First Mini Forest in Smiths Falls Coming to Corbett Park, Evelyn Harford, Smiths Falls Record News, April 19, 2024.
Smiths Falls Gets Mini Miracle. Tiny Forest Planned for Corbett Park, in March 2024 Issue of Hometown News
Charlottetown Experiments with Mini Forests to Speed Up Growth, Nancy Russell, CBC News,
Our Shared Garden: The Importance of Native Plants, Michela Rosano in April 2023 Canadian Geographic
Green Communities Canada (GCC) National Mini Forest Pilot (2023). See also the GCC Facebook page for photos of other communities creating mini forests.
Planting a Network of Mini-Forests Across Canada, Canadian Geographic website. See descriptions and photos of mini-forests planting during a 2023 pilot in Markham, Hamilton, Guelph, Toronto and Richmond, B.C.
Kathy Botham interviewed Dale Horeczy and Dave Thornley about the Corbett Park Mini Forest for Cogeco YourTV:
