“In the forest, old is replaced by new. The old growth shelters the new, yielding just enough light to allow it to thrive, while still protecting it.” – Ed Lehming

This image was inspired simply by what I thought was an interesting winter composition. Freshly fallen snow from the day before covered the young spruce trees in a planted grove of red pine. It also caused my to dig a bit more into the history of this tract, since aerial phots I found from 1954 show much of it to open pasture lands.

Much of this area was formerly open pasture and sandy farmland with a few forested tracts until it was purchased over time (1947 -1962) by Jim Walker who wanted to start a private forest and to protect the forests. To do that, he planted over 2 million trees. He wanted the lands to be used for public conservation lands and sold his many parcels to the Toronto Region Conservation Authority in 1991. Red pines and jack were planted to slow erosion and to allow other species to grow. Many hardwoods will not grow successfully when planted in an open field. They require a shelter crop to protect them from the elements.

Now, nearly 70 years later, the former farmland spans over 1062 acres of lovely forest. The red pines have been thinned by planned harvesting and the hardwoods are taking hold. Among the intended residents, small groves of spruce are taking hold along the perimeters of the planted pines, further sheltering the more delicate hardwoods from damaging winds.

It’s pretty amazing to see how a planned forest, left pretty much to its own devices will take care of itself.

iPhone 12 Pro @ 6.0 mm
1/294sec, f/2.0, ISO 25