Volunteers from the Sheridan community and local residents came together to plant wildflowers and native grasses at our Oakville campus on Saturday, June 9. This pollinator-friendly garden is located outside the Athletic Centre adjacent to the Community Garden.
What is the pollinator garden at Trafalgar, and what are its benefits?
The pollinator garden is a space outside of the Athletic Centre dedicated to perennial wildflowers and grass species that are native to Ontario. It provides food sources and natural habitats for threatened pollinator species such as honey bees and Monarch Butterflies.
There is a significant decline in the population of these life-giving insects, which are critical to the health of our ecosystem. Did you know that one in three bites of food we eat rely on bees for pollination?
“I acknowledge ecological integrity, the important role native pollinators play to the local environment and how necessary it is to remove invasive plant species, such as the Buckthorn trees. It will be great for the community and ecology in general to bring these pollinators back to the area,” Jacob, whose mother works at Sheridan, came out to volunteer with her.
“This planting event is part of our wildflower and pollinator protection and enhancement program this year. Two years ago, we removed all the invasive Buckthorn at this site and replaced them with 300 plants of wildflowers and native grasses at the Welcome Back Breakfast event. Thanks to the wonderful work of our volunteers, today we are doubling the plants of wildflowers and native grass here and minimizing the chance of Buckthorn’s returning!” said Wai Chu Cheng, Sustainability Coordinator, who is leading the campus biodiversity project.
The group spent the first hour removing the weeds around the border of the site, which included prickly thistle plants and various other unwanted weeds. Oakvillegreen educator, Anelia Tichkova, then guided the volunteers on how to place the 300 pots of 15 different species. This was followed by a tutorial on how to dig and plant and off they went, shovels in hand, ready for action!
Some of the species of native plants and grasses included: Big Blue Stem’s, Milkweed, Dense Blazing Star, Black-Eyed Susan and Spider Wort, just to name a few.
“It’s great that we have someone supporting biodiversity and native pollinators in Oakville, such as Sheridan and this is quite a large space. We’ve been delighted to be supporting such projects. The best part is participating and offering any guidance, support and expertise we can for such important work,” said Anelia.
Our thanks goes out to TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, for their generous funding support and Oakvillegreen Conservation Association for their expertise in planting pollinator gardens.
For more information about Mission Zero’s upcoming events, please visit our site http://missionzero.sheridancollege.ca. We can also be reached on Facebook (Sheridan Mission Zero) and on Twitter @mssnzero & https://www.facebook.com/Sheridan-Mission-Zero-1560912004201225/