To the left, a large wasteland on which we can see the old ring where horses ran. On the right, big box stores. While in the center, there are thousands of trees from the greening company Soverdi.

We are on the former site of the Blue Bonnets Racetrack, near Highway 15 and Orange Julep. “We were the eyes of the place,” says Simon Racine.

The general director of Soverdi speaks in the past tense because the City of Montreal has (finally) announced its master plan for the Namur-Hippodrome district.

But at the rate things are going, Soverdi’s lease for its nursery is far from over.

We should rather speak of a “nursery”, since the plants there are incubated before taking root almost everywhere in Greater Montreal. “The trees are ready for planting when they arrive here from our suppliers. We maintain them,” explains Simon Racine.

Soverdi has occupied part of the former Blue Bonnets site since 2019. Previously, its nursery occupied the site of the MIL Campus Ephemeral Projects, but space ran out⁠. In five years, it has grown from 10 to around fifty employees, and from 10,000 to 25,000 trees planted per year.

The NPO was founded in 1992. It first gained importance with the proliferation of green alleys, then with the Canopy Action Plan, established in 2012 under the administration of Gérald Tremblay. The City then gave him the mandate to plant trees on private and institutional land, whether near schools, businesses or hospitals…

To achieve this, Soverdi created the Urban Forest Alliance, which brings together around fifty organizations, including GRAME, Trees Canada and VertCité. “We are all working together to green Montreal. The idea is that the funding we receive is shared,” summarizes communications director Jessyca Farrugia.

“It’s a pretty unique structure,” she boasts. Several cities in North America and Europe want to take inspiration from it. In May, a meeting is also planned with representatives of the City of Boston.

Since COP 15 (United Nations Conference on Biodiversity) in 2022, Soverdi has also had an agreement with the CMM (Montreal Metropolitan Community) for an afforestation program outside the island. Finally, it is behind the campaign Un arbre pour mon quartier, which invites Montrealers to plant trees on their land.

Plantings are not done randomly. “All the trees we plant are georeferenced with an application,” reveals Simon Racine.

“You have to plant the right tree in the right place,” continues Jessyca Farrugia. We have a 95% survival rate, which is pretty exceptional. This is because we plant with rigor, but also because we maintain the trees for the following two years. »

At the nursery, the plants are being carefully tended. “We have just finished raising the 4,300 trees that we had laid down for the winter,” says Mathew Guénette, operations manager, while La Presse visits them at the end of April, at the start of the season.

The nursery facilities remain rustic, he emphasizes. The day before, he and his team members had celebrated the arrival of… electricity!

“There are 250 varieties of trees,” explains nursery manager Ryan Séguin, who started out at Soverdi as a planter. The holder of a bachelor’s degree in environmental geography and a master’s degree in urban studies is delighted to work outside.

While the weather was splendid when we visited the Soverdi nursery in April, an intense cold rain fell when we attended a planting a few days later in L’Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève on the land of the Saint-Raphaël elderly residence. “This is our second planting of the year. The first was under the snow. This is the reality on the ground, but I am proud of the team which has many recruits,” says project manager Aymeric Yanitch.

“Rainy days are the best for planting trees, because they are under less stress,” emphasizes team leader Anaëlle Cousinne.

Last year, Soverdi also greened the grounds of the residence with a plant barrier of 450 trees.

Biologist, Aymeric Yanitch did his doctorate at the Botanical Garden. His job at Soverdi allows him to reconcile his interests in theory and the field. “I love seeing our efforts come to fruition and the scope of our work. Our motto is to plant the right tree in the right place. »