Pierrefonds-Roxboro adds watering bags to help young trees

Pierrefonds-Roxboro has installed slow-release watering bags around newly planted trees as part of an effort to improve survival rates and reduce water stress.

The borough said on October 9 that the bags had been added in recent weeks. Filled with water, they release moisture gradually at the base of a tree over roughly four hours, concentrating it near the roots instead of allowing it to run off the surface.

The system is intended to improve absorption, protect the trunk and support root development during a young tree’s most vulnerable establishment period. The borough plans to remove the bags before winter and may reinstall them in the spring if dry conditions make additional watering necessary.

Residents may see the bags around recent plantings in parks and along streets. The borough’s notice does not ask residents to fill or move them.

Source: Ville de Montréal, “Optimisation de l’arrosage des arbres à Pierrefonds-Roxboro”, published October 9, 2026.

Featured image: Jonathan Kemper / Unsplash, under the Unsplash Licence. Illustrative stock photo; it does not show the borough’s watering bags. Cropped and resized.