Georgie’s Wanderlust

Tree planting is exactly as it sounds. Trees are planted. Millions of trees are planted every year as part of the forestry industry in Canada.

This has been my job in Canada since 2016, and I love it! I have had many conversations all around the world with curious people who want to know more about my career choice. I will go over some of the most common questions I have been asked about tree planting here!

Click on a question to jump to it.

Where do you plant the trees?

Outside! Tree planting is a forestries job, so all of the trees I plant are outside on the block. I work in British Columbia, Canada, and have planted trees in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec. I have also planted trees in Tasmania, Australia.

What is the block?

“The block” refers to a cut block. This is an area that has been logged of trees. The tree planters then come in and reforest the area.

What is the cache?

The cache is an area where the crew boss (person in charge of 6-20 people) will have trees placed to be planted in a designated area.

This is where tree planters store their food and water and warm clothes for the day while they plant. They will return here many times to restock their trees.

How many trees do you carry on you at a time?

Tree planters have these wonderful things called bags. They have 3-4 large pouches and attach with a buckle around the hips. Tree seedlings will vary in size, therefore the bigger they are, the less one can carry.

Anywhere from 75 to 500 trees can be carried at a time.

300 is the most typical.

How do you plant a tree?

With a tree planting shovel. I use a Bush Pro shovel and planting bags.

Most tree planters will have a “shovel hand” and a “tree hand”. You will also get some folk who plant ambidextrous.

The shovel hand will insert the shovel into the earth, and make an opening in the soil. Tree planting shovels are about 2-3 feet in length.

The tree hand will then come down as the tree planter bends at their hips, and insert the tree into the soil.

Closing the hole can be with the tree hand or one of the feet.

The tree needs to be closed tight enough so when it’s tugged on it doesn’t come out of the earth.

How many trees do you plant per day?

Very dependant on the contract you are working, and the individual.
If the land being planted is flat and soft, a tree planter can put in 3-5 thousand trees per day. Very fast tree planters can plant 6, 7, 8, 9, even 10 thousand trees in a day. This takes a very unique individual to get that many in the ground in a working day. 2,500-4,500 is more common.

On contracts that are extremely steep, rocky, and wet, a tree planter might put 500 trees in, while others are putting in 2,000.

Do you get paid?

Yes, as it’s my career I do get paid. In Canada it is most common to be paid per tree.

Are there a lot of bears?

Yes. I’ve seen hundreds of bears during my time in the bush. They don’t usually hang around too long, although some become very curious and have got a bit too close at times. I’ve seen helicopters called in to scare away bears before.

Where do you sleep?

This depends on the province and contract a tree planter is working on.

Some tree planting camps are down a logging road and everyone is sleeping in tents and personal camper trailers.

Other contracts set up their tree planters in motels, hotels, rented houses, cabins, or trailers. I prefer this.

What do you eat? Do the companies cater for you?

You might notice the trend here, this is dependent on the contract and company.

Typically “bush camps” where everyone is sleeping in a tent down a logging road, there will be a cook shack with a camp cook. They will provide three meals a day to the hungry planters. Food is typically carb heavy, and you are gonna hope you get a good cook!

Tree planters eat A LOT. As we are paid per tree, if you’re not moving you’re not making money. So we exert a lot of energy each day. You’ll hear people throw around 10,000 calories burned in a day, it’s closer to 3-5,000. Which is still a huge amount. Hence the huge appetite.

Motel shows, where everyones in individual rooms or sharing with a roomie, will more often be feeding themselves. I much prefer this option as I get freedom of choice of what I eat. Fresh fruit on the block is my favourite! Delicious electrolytes!

Isn’t it hard on the body?

Yes, you are physically exerting yourself in all weather conditions for 7-10 hours every working day. Tree planters carry up to 50lbs around their waist while climbing up mountains, simultaneously bending over every few seconds to plant a tree.

I have been very fortunate that my body has held up to the physically demanding work. I do my best to listen to my body and know when and how hard I can push myself.

Tendonitis in the hands, arms and shoulders can be pretty common. It’s an incredibly repetitive motion that is being performed thousands of times a day.

Warming up in the mornings and easing into the start of a season helps massively in lowering injury risk.

Are you alone when you work?

Usually. As contracts and companies vary, it is most common for a tree planter to be given a designated area on the block, also called their “piece”, and they will stay there for the day, unless they finish and move to a new piece.

Sometimes you’ll plant trees with a friend or co-worker, this could be for safety or practical reasons. Or because it’s fun to be with your friends!

The crow boss will be around to check on their tree planters through the day.

I prefer to work alone, turn some music on, and plant my trees at my own pace.

Is tree planting only in Canada?

No. Tree planting happens all over the world. I would think as a career the best money you can make tree planting is in Canada. However other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Scotland can also be good choices.

There is tree planting in the USA but it is paid very poorly, they mostly hire immigrants and unfortunately don’t pay them well.

How many months of the year do you work?

Tree planting is a seasonal job. Each province in Canada will have their own start and finish dates. Trees are planted in the spring, summer and fall in Canada. In British Columbia trees can be planted as early as February, and as late as October. It is very uncommon to plant trees in August as the weather is so hot and dry, it’s not viable for the trees nor comfortable for the tree planters.

I work 3-5 months of the year as a tree planter.

Some tree planters will pick up other jobs in the “off-season”.

This could be:

Surveying – walking through the old growth or planted forest to collect data.

Burning – setting fire to the leftover slash piles on the block.

Cone picking – collecting tree cones from cut blocks to grow the tree seedlings that will be planted.

Not only do I love the actual job, I love the lifestyle and freedom it gives me.

What kind of people plant trees?

Some of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure to call my friends have been made through tree planting. This is an incredibly physically demanding and emotionally exhausting job. It attracts a very special kind of person. You’ll find a lot of creative types in the bush. Musicians and artists, and curious types who love to learn new things. It is a very humbling job that pushes people to their limits. And at the end of a long contract the parties in the bush are some of the best I’ve ever been to. Tree planters know how to have a tonne of fun.

How many people do you work with?

If we are referring to camp size, I’ve worked on a contract with 7 people, and I’ve also been on one with just shy of 100. I like somewhere in-between, the 25-40 mark is a great size. You get a range of personalities and have more events and the opportunity to get to know everyone.

If we are referring to crew size, this can range from 6 people to more than 20. A crew will have one crew boss who manages the assigned tree planters on the block, allocating them areas to work and checking on them throughout the day. I work mostly on crews of 7.

There is usually one supervisor, sometimes two, who manages the entire camp. They take care of all of the logistics and co-ordinating with contractors.

Who do you work for?

I, like most tree planters, am employed by a company that physically plants the trees. The company I work for bids on contracts and if they win them, they are allocated a number of trees to plant by a certain time that year.

Some contracts are government, some are private logging companies.

The majority of trees planted in Canada are for forestries, and will be cut down in the future. As such, I work a lot of these types of contracts.

I also work on contracts aimed at restoring damaged ecosystems. A lot of these will be wildfire burns and these trees will not be cut down in the future.

Do you have a work uniform?

No. Work attire is essentially free dress. Safety gear standards are required for employers, work boots, gloves, long pants. Sometimes hard hats or high vis depending on the contract.

You’ll see some colourful clothing out on the block. I love seeing all of the different pieced together outfits tree planters wear!

I like leggings with gators and comfortable boots. A long sleeve loose shirt or a t-shirt. And wool socks and a wool sweater! A raincoat is only functional if it’s very cold, otherwise I wear wool in the rain if the temperatures are warmer.

A hat is a must for me, a dad cap or a beanie.

Neck socks (or Buffs) are great at keeping the sun off the face and the black flies out. I wear two when the bugs are really bad.

What kind of trees do you plant?

In Canada I plant varying species of Spruce, Douglas Fir, Cedar, Pine, Larch, and Cottonwood. What is cut down is typically what is re-planted.

In Australia I planted Eucalyptus trees.

How many days a week do you work?

Tree planting is not your regular 9-5, Monday to Friday. Dependent on the region and company you work for will dictate your working week. I work in British Columbia and have a 3 day on, 1 day off schedule.

7-10 hours is typical. I’ve worked 12 hours in a day before.

Starting at 7am is common, and finishing by 5pm is ideal.

How do you get to work?

The tree planting company will have a fleet of work pick-up trucks to drive tree planters to the block.

Some inaccessible areas will use helicopters to fly to and from the job site.

I have ridden in trucks, helicopters, boats, side by sides, quads, rolligons, and my own two legs have walked me into the block to plant trees.

When do the trees get cut down?

This varies a lot! If you are in northern Alberta where the winters are extremely cold and the growing time per year for the trees is short, the turn around from tree planted to cut down could be 100-120 years!

If you are on Vancouver Island where the trees have a warmer climate, the turn around can be ~30 years. In Australia the turn around can be as quick as ~20 years.

Summary

Thanks so much for reading. Tree planting is near and dear to my heart, I’ve had some of my absolute best and also the most brutal days out on the block. I wouldn’t change it for the world. I have learnt an enormous amount being out in the bush in Canada, and hope you learnt a thing or two today through this post.

If this post has sparked your interest in Canada, you might like to check out Bella Coola, I’ve been lucky enough to visit this beautiful British Columbia coastal town twice after tree planting.