It’s our first stewardship day in September and there’s lots to do! But some jobs are custom designed for certain volunteers. So we left the job of weeding the green roof to Rebecca, a teenage volunteer who loves climbing.
At this time of year, the pollinator garden in the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard really shines. And yet, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. So the team plunged into the garden today and started to divide some of the Black Eyed Susan plants to share with community members.
The goal of dividing the plants is to prevent some vigorous perennials (yup, that’s the Black Eyed Susan’s) from shading out the spirea and other valuable plants. We also moved some daylillies from the middle of the garden into the exterior areas so we will be able to see them better next year when they bloom.
A beautiful centrepiece in the garden is Goldenrod, which is an incredible plant for pollinators and other beneficial insects. People are afraid of goldenrod as they think is causes allergies. But that’s not the case. You can learn about Goldenrod vs. Ragweed in this article. It is truly a wonderful plant.
On the other side of the park, Annie planted some native Lupins that Giselle grew from seed. They will have a gorgeous tall and vibrant blue/purple flower that will attract butterflies next year. Zeny and Annie protected this new planting by putting signs up around it to prevent people from waking on top of the young plants during the winter.
There was lots to do but the team came out in full force today! Participants included Susan, Giselle, Annie, Sara, Rebecca, Rael, Jihane, Zeny, our teenage volunteer with her mom and dad, and Eleanor. Our orchard mascot, Peanut The Great, even came for a little visit and enjoyed nibbling on a weed or two while she was there.
After dividing the plants, we left some buckets of the divisions beside the playground so that community members can come and take them for planting in their own gardens. Black Eyed Susan’s are such an easy-to-grow perennial, that they will thrive almost anywhere.
Our next stewardship day is coming up on Saturday, September 23 at 9 am to 11am. Would you like to join us? If you’re interested, send an email to growingforgreen (at) gmail.com. Enjoy the harvest season!
Susan Poizner is the coordinator of The Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard in Toronto and the author of the award-winning fruit tree care book Growing Urban Orchards. Susan teaches fruit tree care skills online at he fruit tree care training website OrchardPeople.com. Susan is also the host of The Urban Forestry Radio Show and Podcast, a show that explores topics relating to fruit trees, food forests, permaculture and arboriculture. She is also an ISA Certified arborist.
