Spring Garden Cleanup
A zine about planning and growing an eco-friendly urban garden
all about gardens
The following is a small collection of tips and suggestions for your consideration when planning your small-scale garden in North Vancouver. Written for the spring gardener, the goal is to provide a small amount of education that can blossom through and beyond the growing season.
This guide was created from a collaboration between Capilano University’s IDEA first year class, and City Studios. It seeks to answer the question: how do we naturalize private property for the health and preservation of our environment in the city of North Vancouver? The author is a white Settler of Irish descent that is an amateur gardener and on the learning journey too.
W h a tissustainablegardening?
Sustainable gardening is a practice of growing a garden that considers all the life in, and surrounding, the garden: past, present and future.
When we decide to grow plants and food in our yards, we enter into a relationship with the many forms of biodiversity that make up the outdoor ecosystem near our home.
Being an eco-friendly gardener means paying attention to our gardening decisions, and considering how it will affect the surrounding biodiversity. Examples of things to consider include: soil quality
water drainage
plant variety
seed choice
water consumption
will the pollinators like what i grow?????????????
Another important consideration when planning your garden in the spring, is how to incorporate more
native plant species.
“A native plant, or ‘indigenous’ plant, is a plant which grows naturally in a particular region (locally, we consider plants are native if they predate Europeant contact”
-grow green gardening guide
Pictured here is the Pacific Bleeding Heart which is a plant native to British Columbia. It is thriving in that wet Pacific Northwest climate !
Native plants naturally have a positive effect on the biodiversity and ecosystem of a garden, and they are better equipped for survival too. This is because they have spent centuries adapting to their home region’s climate and biodiversity.
These plants help contribute to healthy soils, as well as healthy animal and insect life. The whole ecosystem benefits when native species are planted in the garden.
spring cleanup do’s and don’ts
DON’T
DON’T
DON’T remove dead leaves and other matter before it’s warm enough for stowaway insects to find a new home. use any pesticides to try and clear out pests before the season starts (or ever). plant any invasive species in your garden.
DO check out your local seed library as an alternative to buying seeds brand new.
DO say hello to your gardening neighbors and maybe learn a thing or two from eachother.
DO get to know your soil and look into compost options for adding nutrients.
and that’s all for now!
Researched, Written & Illustrated by
Siobhán Barry
References & Further Reading
Capital Regional District. Healthy soils: know your soil. https://www.crd.bc.ca/education/natural-gardening/healthy-soils.
Growgreen. (2017). About: Ready to get gardening? Not sure where to start? The Grow Green Guide can help! http://www.growgreenguide.ca/about#
Growgreen. (2017). Gardening Tips, http://www.growgreenguide.ca/resources/gardening-tips
Justice, D. (2020, June 15). Gardening With Native Plants. Grow Green Guide Blog. https://growgreenguideblog.ca/2020/06/gardening-with-native-plants/
McLaughlin, C. What is Sustainable Gardening: “Sustainable gardening” is a cool term if I've ever heard one.. Fine Gardening. https://www.finegardening.com/article/what-is-sustainable-gardening
Native Plants and Why They’re Important: Urbanization has transformed landscapes into fragmented areas leaving them unfunctional for wildlife. So how can we fix this? By adding native plants back into the environment. Let's take a look at eight reasons why you should add native plants into your yard and why they're beneficial. (2022, August 17). Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia.
https://wildbirdtrust.org/2022/08/17/native-plants-and-why-theyre-important/? utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=native-plants-and-why-the yre-important
Planting Tips for the Late Winter and Early Spring Season: What you need to know about planting native plant species in the late winter-early spring for BC’s South Coast climate.. (2021, March 3). Wild Bird Trust of British Columbia.
https://wildbirdtrust.org/2021/03/03/planting-tips-for-the-late-winter-and-early -spring-season/
Starting Your Sustainable Urban Garden. (2021, March 4). FarmFolkCityFolk. https://farmfolkcityfolk.ca/2021/03/starting-your-sustainable-urban-garden/
Vandergrift, D. (2020 April 13). Spring Garden Cleanup: Mind the Wildlife! Urban Ecology Center.
https://urbanecologycenter.org/item/1312-spring-garden-cleanup-mind-the-wil dlife.html
Your Guide to Hybrid and Open-Pollinated Seeds. (2021, January 8). FarmFolkCityFolk.
https://farmfolkcityfolk.ca/2021/01/your-guide-to-hybrid-and-open-pollinated-se eds/