A microforest is growing in de Deauville Park in Pierrefonds-Roxboro

Last updated March 21, 2024
Reading time: 2 min

To promote biodiversity and reduce urban heat islands, the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro has planted a microforest in de Deauville Park in august 2023. Find out more about this project, winner of Ville de Montréal’s first participatory budget.

Inspiration for the project comes from the Miyawaki method, developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. It involves creating dense, fast-growing forests on small urban sites. A microforest grows faster, creates more biodiversity and captures more carbon than a conventional forest. The principle is quite simple: each tree competes with the others for access to light and nutrients in the soil, and therefore grows faster!

Location

The microforest is located in the western sector of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, in de Deauville Park, which was redeveloped in the spring of 2023 with impressive structures, a water play area and inviting spaces.

Size

The development comprises of three planting islands totalling 644 m2, which are home to 2500 trees and shrubs - the size of almost three tennis courts! That’s three trees per square metre. This close-knit planting method proves highly effective, because each tree finds its place and makes the most of every light well, and the roots help each other to create a kind of microclimate. The closer the trees are to each other, the more resilient the forest will be to the vagaries of the weather (wind, cold, frost, heatwave…) In short, the denser the better!

Benefits

In addition to creating an additional lung to filter the air in the borough’s neighbourhood, the microforest :

  • provides an additional island of greenery;
  • increases the urban canopy;
  • promotes biodiversity for the survival of plant and animal species;
  • is a considerable carbon sink;
  • retains rainwater;
  • helps reduce heat islands and contributes to the ecological transition;
  • improves quality of life and offers a contemplative experience to the population.
The microforest project was completed on August 19, 2023, thanks to the participation of dozens of volunteers.
  • Three volunteers sit in the mulch, planting tree shoots.

Composition and maintenance of the microforest

The twenty or so native species planted are varied. Red oak, silver maple, shrubs, american hazelnut, red pine, black aronia, american basswood, black viburnum, elderberry, bitternut hickory, etc. Small trees up to 25 to 40 cm in diameter and 50 cm in height are preferred. The soil will also be mulched and composted.

The microforest will be tended, watered and weeded for a minimum of three years. Within a few years, a dense plant cover reminiscent of a primary forest will emerge. A closed canopy will be reached in five years, and a mature forest in 20 years.

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