Seeding the Future

New beds to provide native plants for future ravine revitalization reports Veronica Sliva

Toronto’s urban forests are in trouble. Restoring them will not be easy. In an effort to ensure a more positive future for Wilket Creek Ravine, the TBG has undertaken an important and challenging project to help restore and revitalize native plant habitats, a step considered vital to preserving its biodiversity.

With the help of funding from the Gosling Foundation (goslingfoundation. org), the installation of new seed beds behind the carpet beds at the Toronto Botanical Gardens took place in October 2019. The purpose is to provide a source of native plants ready for the future expansion and revitalization of the ravine.

Monarda punctata (spotted beebalm)

“At this point it is very early days but our goal for the beds for 2020 is all about learning,” says Colleen Cirillo, the TBG’s Director of Education. “In preparation for the future expansion, we want to establish protocols on how to collect, process and grow native seeds. These seed beds will be a great tool for education, as well as a future source of plants for our ravine restoration project. They provide the opportunity for hands-on learning for staff, volunteers and students.”

Seed Bed Construction

Some of the logs that were used in exhibiting the ZimSculpt sculptures for the past two summers were recycled to create the borders of the three raised seed beds (each 15 x 12 metres). The beds are unlined and open to the ground with the bottom of each bed made up of overturned sod that decomposes naturally. Each raised bed is about one foot deep. Currently, half the space is planted with seedlings obtained from the Ontario Plant Restoration Alliance (opra.ca).

Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed)

Plant Selection

Stefan Weber, restoration biologist and cofounder of Ontario Plant Restoration Alliance and St. Williams Nursery & Ecology Centre, provided expertise in choosing and supplying a selection of appropriate native species to start off the project. The beds were planted with seedlings of Monarda punctata (spotted beebalm), Solidago ptarmicoides (upland white aster), Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed), Verbena stricta (hoary verbena), Liatris cylindracea (Ontario blazing star), Solidago bicolor (white goldenrod) and Ludwigia alternifolia (seedbox or rattlebox). In time these seedlings will mature and produce seeds that can be collected to produce new plants.

Verbena stricta (hoary verbena)

Garden Club to grow native oaks

In his keynote address at the Urban Ravine Symposium in October 2019, Henry Hughes provided an overview of Centennial Trees. The retired education director for the Birmingham Botanical Garden emphasized the importance of planting native species that are at risk and under-represented in the horticultural trade and in the landscape. During his talk he referred to Eric Davies, an ecologist who collects native oak acorns in Toronto’s ravines and germinates them in his front yard.

Members of the Garden Club of Toronto were so inspired by Henry’s talk and Eric’s activities that they decided to embark on a project to honour the club’s 75th anniversary in 2021. The project includes growing locally sourced native oak seedlings for transplanting into the ravine. Half the space in the newly built seed beds is dedicated for this purpose and will be under the watchful stewardship of the Garden Club of Toronto.

Ludwigia alternifolia (seedbox)