Creating gardens that welcome people and pollinators

BY LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

A group of parishioners at Ascension have also been working to transform the church’s property outside.

“We have a long history of gardening at Ascension,” Mary Crawford told Crosstalk. “But in the last few years, some of us really starting to think about how to make these gardens as inviting as possible, not just to people but to pollinators, and not just pollinators, but really to all insects and birds and all life that is out there in the world.”

The church sponsored a team of four people to attend a program offered by Pollinator Partnership Canada (webinars that ran from February to June) with the goal of earning pollinator stewardship certification. “It was meant to give the formal structure to what it is we wanted to do and trying to kind of put us all on the same page in terms of knowledge about these things and what we should be doing and how to approach it,” Crawford said.

She added that the course offered a good range of information from scientists as well as a grounding in Indigenous knowledge.

They applied for and received a grant of $2,300 from the City of Ottawa to make the grounds more pollinator friendly.

The group has been planting native trees, including a large serviceberry and small yellow birch, as well as perennials and grasses.

The north side of the church is shady, so they are modelling it after woodland. “One of our members is a forester, and she recommended that we look to species like the pagoda dogwood and witch hazel, and so we’ve got some of those in there

Why native plants?

BY MARY CRAWFORD

With the threat our pollinators (and all insects) face through habitat loss, chemical poisoning, and climate change, they need all the help we can give them.

Native plants generally support a greater number and variety of pollinators and are tolerant hosts to insects that birds need to raise their young.

Many non-native plants offer pollen and nectar as well, though sometimes of lesser quality. The most invasive non-native species outcompete native species. Some of these plants, such as dogstrangling vine and garlic mustard, reportedly even fool pollinators into laying eggs on them when in fact their leaves are poisonous to the larva.

Trees such as red and sugar maple, oak, birch, cherry and serviceberry are excellent choices for the home garden. Nonnative trees such as the Norway maple, once planted widely for their ability cope with our urban environment, are now on Ottawa’s invasive plant list.

The City of Ottawa also lists many garden plants to avoid, such as lilyof-the-valley, periwinkle, bugleweed, goutweed, creeping Jenny and Japanese knotweed.

The Ontario Invasive Plant Council has a helpful brochure entitled “Grow Me Instead,” which suggests native substitutes for problematic non-native plants.

Sourcing plants and seeds

As a rule, the closer to home you source your plants and seeds, the better. Local, independent growers and reputable garden centres pride themselves on providing quality plant material suitable for our growing zone and usually grown in Canada.

Ask about pesticide use. The more concern retailers hear from customers, the more likely they are to address it. Also, keep in mind that we know less about plants grown in and also some ground cover like wild geranium, ferns, and wild ginger. These are native plants that love the shade and we’re excited to see them get established,” said Crawford. the US where pesticide regulations vary from state to state and from our own than we do about plants grown in Canada. Choose native plants in their species form, for example, purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) as opposed to a cultivated variety such as ‘Sunseeker’s rainbow’ coneflower, to best ensure the benefit to nature. Breeding for qualities such as different colours or flower shape often diminishes pollinator interest and accessibility.

Native plant specialists

• Beaux Arbres (Bristol, QC)

• Natural Themes (near Frankford)

• Ontario Native Plants (live plants shipped from Hamilton)

• Wildflower Farm (seed orders)

• Ottawa Wildflower Seed Library

For more information

• Master Gardeners of Ottawa Carleton (MGOC) has a newsletter that regularly covers topics related to native plants. Find Trowel Talk on their website: mgottawa.ca.

A stump from a maple tree that came down in a storm in 2016 has become a feature in one of the gardens. “They didn’t get that all out of the ground, which is really fortunate because the stump’s … still offering a lot to the insects that continue to live there and work to break it down. And plants just look so good around it… We’ve really come to love that stump,” she said.

An old compost heap behind the church has become a wildflower garden with bee-friendly nesting sites, high-bush cranberry shrubs and tree seedlings.

“I am very happy to be part of transforming our church gardens into native plant, pollinator gardens,” Janet Taylor, another member of the team wrote in an email to Crosstalk “The Pollinator Partnership Canada videos taught me how the changes we are making can contribute to sustaining the ecosystems we really depend on and being part of Mary’s team has taught me much about plant selection. These simple choices are making us better stewards of the land we are on, creating a pollinator friendly garden which requires far less maintenance and watering from us.”

Such projects can have an impact beyond the bounds of church property as well. “Not only are we providing an example in the neighbourhood as to what can be done, but our gardens are also a statement that this faith community takes seriously its call to be responsible stewards,” said Taylor.

• Lorraine Johnson has written a Canadian classic: 100 Easyto-Grow Native Plants for Canadian Gardens (3rd edition 2017).

• Douglas Tallamy has written seminal works on native plants: Bringing Nature Home (2009) and Nature’s Best Hope (2019).

• Pollinator Partnership Canada offers ecoregional planting guides and Pollinator Stewardship Certification.

Upcoming local events

• Friends of the Farm lecture series by MGOC—May 2: Garden Design with Nature in Mind; May 16: Create a Beautiful Garden with Keystone Native Plants

• Friends of the Farm Plant Sale 960 Carling Ave, Sunday, May 14. Includes many local growers, including members of MGOC.

• Fletcher Wildlife Garden Online Plant Sale Check website for details.