Times Colonist. Donated acorns help society produce Garry oak crop. Oct 2025.
https://www.timescolonist.com/life/donated-acorns-help-society-produce-garry-oak-crop-11390955
jbell@timescolonist.com
A $13,000 grant from the Victoria Foundation to help preserve the trees in the group’s nursery is a major boost
Acorns collected by the public are being planted to produce more Garry oaks as proponents work to strengthen the depleted tree species.
Arborist and society president of the Garry Oak Meadow Preservation Society Ryan Senechal said a $13,000 grant from the Victoria Foundation to help preserve the trees in the group’s nursery is a major boost.
The nursery is on Capital Regional District-owned land off the Pat Bay Highway just north of Sayward Road, and it has now been able to purchase a shelter where volunteers can work on the plants, Senechal said.
The site used to be the location of the City of Victoria’s tree nursery, he said, so the group entered into a partnership with the city to take over the use of the property.
Getting enough acorns to plant is “a community participatory project” that sees the society reaching out via its website, local media and social media for acorn donations, Senechal said.
He said the society has been “overwhelmed” with the amount of acorns gathered this year, so no more are needed for now.
The trees that can grow are from acorns that were “100 per cent” provided by community members, Senechal said.
That fits with the society’s focus on producing the “local ecotype” of Garry oaks to distribute around the region, he said, and added the society is “interested in stewarding the local population.”
The annual request for acorn donations comes in early September.
Guidelines for the public include testing the acorns to see if they float, since acorns that float can’t be used.
Also unsuitable are acorns with caps, which indicate that they aren’t ripe.
Senechal said many of the acorns received have already started root growth, and some will emerge at the potting stage, while some will not.
Once planted, the successful acorns take root and establish a small stem and leaves.
He pointed to a 2006 study on Garry oak ecosystems that looked at their historical range on Vancouver Island and beyond, with the conclusion being that less than five per cent of the original range remained in Canada.
That number refers to areas that are “relatively intact,” and it falls to three per cent for areas in prime condition, he said — making Canada’s Garry oak ecosystems “critically endangered.”
Senchal said the Garry Oak Meadow Preservation Society was formed in 1992, a time when there was little in the way of tree-protection bylaws to manage urban forests.
Its society members spent considerable time advocating for the sort of protections we see more of today.
He said the “latest dilemma” for the society is the continuing fragmentation of remaining Garry oak ecosystems, and trees that are vulnerable due to the push for added space for housing in the region.
This leaves them having to “constantly evolve as an advocacy organization.”
The society website is at garryoak.info.