Resources on Gardening and Nature

By Giselle General

Edmonton is a city with four distinct seasons, where the natural environment changes drastically and it is evident in the temperature as well as the plants and animals around us. Celebrating the warmer weather and making the most of the limited gardening season is a passion for many. It's springtimewhere snow starts to melt and people start thinking about the green spaces around them.

It is valuable to be knowledgeable about best practices to make sure that we contribute positively to caring for the natural environment in our area, whether right in our front or backyard, or in public spaces.

Here are some resources or programs on gardening and nature in our city. On Encouraging Gardening and Beautification

1. Edmonton Public Library Seeds Library: Our incredible library system keeps on getting better – you can check out seeds for planting! You can also borrow a seed packet, learn about the plant you want to grow, take a few seeds to plant, and return the rest back to the library. It’s a nocost way for you to try gardening, with the wealth of information you can access by the seeds cabinet and of course, books in the library. It’s a pilot project located in the main library branch in downtown. The website is https://www.epl.ca/seeds/

2. Front Yards in Bloom: Front Yards in Bloom has a nomination process for the summer season, and also during the winter season. Any home that gets nominated as an attractive front yard will receive a bright yellow outdoor sign that indicates that the home is nominated by someone. This initiative believes that those who make their yards beautiful at any time of the year deserves recognition, and there are special categories for other spaces like apartment balconies. The website is https://www.edmonton.ca/programs_ services/landscaping_gardening/ front-yards-in-bloom.aspx

3. Root for Trees: Root for Trees is an initiative by the city that helps facilitate tree planting activities. Group tree planting can serve as an incredible team building activity for any group, and businesses, community organizations and individual residents can ask for help to set up a session. The annual target of this initiative is to plant an additional 45,000 trees. The website for more information is www.rootfortrees.ca.