Location: 95 Brian Dr, North York, ON M2J 3Y6
At the start of 2023, my neighbor Zakia, a teacher at Brian Public School approached me to ask about where she could find resources to create a native plant garden in her school and of course, I offered to get the Underhill Seedsitters involved!
The principal at the time was very receptive and I started looking at possible sites that could be suitable for creating a native plant garden with seedlings donated by the Underhill Seedsitting Group. The garden bed right next to the main entrance was a self-contained area that could inspire the community. It had some Japanese yews as well as spireas that could be removed so the school put in a work order for that.
I’ve come to learn that the only way to have an enduring garden is to get the community involved and engaged so I began working with Brian PS by holding a talk on April 13, 2023 for Grade 4 and 5 students about native plants and the wildlife they would attract.
The next step would be to engage the community so I took part in the community Barbeque on June 13th, 2023 I manned a booth to give away native plants and speak with parents and caregivers about plans for a native plant garden with parents and caregivers.
By the time the spirea had been removed in September, the first principal had been transferred to a different school but Zakia kindly introduced me to Maria, the new principal and we began planning for the planting.
On October 13, 2023, Linda, Pat C. and I arrived with tools and about 150 plants grown by our group members. We spent a few hours preparing the soil by removing invasive plants, adding and mixing in fresh soil as well as laying out the plants.
The children and their parents came at 4pm and quickly began planting the plants in the locations they had been placed. Special attention was paid to the orange tulips that had been planted by students for Orange Shirt Day. The tulip bulbs were carefully dug up, the soil amended and the bulbs interplanted with Prairie Smoke which will bloom in early Spring.
As a finishing touch, a map of the planting was created and placed at the garden.
I know that this is just the first step in a lovely collaboration with Brian Public School and we are looking at options of holding talks, workshops and seedsitting groups. You can see more pictures of this exciting project on Brian Public School’s Gallery at the link below:
