On Wednesday afternoon, May 8, volunteers are welcome to come out to help with the spring clean-up of the pollinator garden at the park at the corner of King and John Streets.
Klara Young-Chin will be at the park starting at 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 8.
The stalks from the Ironweed and the Joe pye weed have fallen over so it needs to be cleared to give space for the new growth to come out.
Please bring trowels, shears and a shovel (if you have) along with garden gloves and water bottle. The area may be wet so appropriate shoes or boots are advisable.
Pollinator plants
On another note, Sandra Ozkur of Niagara Bee Group, says the group has a fundraiser offering the purchase of a flat with 38 native plants in 4-inch plugs, with six varities of blooming wildflowers, at Apple Hill Apothecary, 758 Niagara Stone Road, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Several volunteers from Friends of One Mile Creek (FOMC) along with a company group of 10 people from SunOpta have cleaned up the plantings in the public park at King and John streets.
Over two hours on Friday afternoon, July 14, hundreds of weeds were removed from the edges of the areas planted in October 2020.
We’re very grateful to all the volunteers. The team from SunOpta are based in St. Davids. SunOpta is a leading global company focused on natural food, ingredient sourcing, organic food, and specialty foods. SunOpta had contacted the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) asking about opportunities to participate in community projects and NPCA connected them with Friends of One Mile Creek.
Volunteers from SunOpta and FOMC at the weeding at King and John park on July 14.
Volunteers planted 450 native plants and shrubs on Oct. 24, 2020, in the park area at the corner of King and John St. in Old Town in the restoration project organized by Friends of One Mile Creek. Subsequently in 2021 and 2022, we’ve done mulching and weeding.
The survival rates of the 2020 plantings are quite high.
We hope to tackle another section of the plantings with another weeding marathon later this year.
View from King Street in July 2023: Trees planted less than three years ago have taken hold nicely.
Flashback: how it looked in 2020
The Oct 24, 2020, tree planting of 450 native trees and shrubs in an extended area along One Mile Creek at King and John Streets involved more than 100 volunteeers and was funded by a local donation and a grant from the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority. (Photo by René Bertschi)
A group of 40 volunteers from Unilever Canada converged on the Town park at King and John Streets on June 8 to spend an hour weeding the areas planted in 2020 with native trees and shrubs. The corporate group of employees from across Canada were meeting at White Oaks Resort and had arranged with the Niagara Penninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) and Friends of One Mile Creek to provide the community service as part of their commitment to make sustainable living commonplace. (More information about Unilever’s sustainability efforts is at unilever.ca/planet-and-society.)
The Unilever group and their harvest of weeds from around the native plantings at the King and John park with Klara Young-Chin of FOMC (at right)
The group contacted the NPCA to offer help with a community project and FOMC was delighted to have the help. Several local volunteers including NOTL Councillor Norm Arsenault also joined in the weeding. The area had been planted in October 2020 by FOMC with more than 50 local volunteers helping to plant the trees and shrubs, then weeded and mulched in 2021 to help get the native plants established.
Kerry Royer of NPCA (right) provides a briefing for the Unilever volunteers at the King and John park.Unilever volunteers spread out to weed the different planting areas.
Plants such as swamp milkweed attract monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
The pollinator garden at the corner of John and King streets initiated by Friends of One Mile Creek (FOMC) in 2016 is flourishing after five years. The garden was planted in one day in September 2016 in the Town park with plants provided by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) and help from NPCA staff, FOMC volunteers, Town staff and a few committee members of Communities in Bloom.
More native flowers provided by NPCA were added to the garden in 2017 and 2018. FOMC volunteers organized by Klara Young-Chin regularly weed and mulch the garden.
Klara Young-Chin in pollinator garden next toDense Blazing Star in July 2021.
In fall 2018 the Niagara Restoration Council paid for a beautiful interpretive sign that showcases photos of some of the native flowers with explanation of their benefits. The sign is easily viewed by people who use the busy walk/bike path along King Street that passes directly beside the pollinator garden.
This garden is another example of a naturalization project that encourages community members to add pollinator friendly plants to their yards. Each patch of native flowers, however small, adds to the network of food and rest stops for bees, butterflies, birds and other beneficial pollinators.
NOTL is proud of the recognition it has received in national and international judging. One of the many requirements for Communities in Bloom is the environmental stewardship contribution in the community, and this garden is one of the community projects that have been noted.
This garden followed the 2012 FOMC project organized by Gerry Beneteau that created the large naturalized buffer and pollinator garden in the William Street Park at the top of the hill abutting One Mile Creek.
FOMC pollinator garden King and John in June 2021 (photo by Katleya Young-Chin)FOMC pollinator garden King and John in August 2021 (photo by Klara Young-Chin)
Garden at the beginning of the season after clean-up more plants added and mulching (2018)FOMC pollinator garden King and John in August 2021 by Klara Young-ChinKlara at pollinator sign Oct 2019
Closeups of some plants in pollinator garden
Butterfly MilkweedVirginia mountain mintSwamp milkweedBlack-eyed Susan with wild strawberriesWild Columbine
Wild BergamotSpotted Joe PyeweedTall IronweedSneezeweedDense Blazing Star
King and John pollinator garden at the beginning of the season after clean-up and mulching in spring 2018.
The people who planted the pollinator garden in September 2016
In a joint effort, Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Communities in Bloom committee, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and Friends of One Mile Creek worked together to plant a new pollinator garden at the corner of John Street and King Streets in September 2016. (Photo Niagara This Week)
Volunteers mulched in October 2021 to give the new plantings at King and John Streets a chance to get established. This followed marathon weeding sessions in mid-August and mid-September to remove invasive weeds and aggressive grasses.
In October 2020, volunteers had planted 450 native plants and shrubs as a riparian planting along One Mile Creek. An assessment this summer by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority that there was a 90% survival rate for the plantings – better than the 70% target.
October 2021 mulching
October 2021 mulching volunteers
August 2021 weeding
Some of the volunteers who came out for the August 14 weeding: John Venables, Kathy Goulding, Beckie Fox, Viggo Zing, Klara Young-Chin, Michael Fox and Nigel Young-Chin. (Photo by Mike Balsom for NOTL Local)
October 2020 planting
Volunteers planting 450 native shrubs and trees in October 2020 in park at King and John street (Photo by Rene Bertschi)
Volunteers planted 450 native plants and shrubs on Oct. 24, 2020, in the park area at the corner of King and John St. in Old Town in the restoration project organized by Friends of One Mile Creek (FOMC).
The planting will help restore the Niagara on the Lake tree canopy that has been devastated by Emerald Ash Borer. The Town of NOTL has removed more than 876 ash trees out of 1,500 assessed, including 214 ash trees within the One Mile Creek watershed – the area drained by the creek.
Trees intercept rainfall in their canopy, slowing down runoff and allowing water to infiltrate the root zone. This helps flood control as well as biodiversity.
Whether it’s a creek or a lake, the strip of trees and shrubs that grow along the shoreline play an important role in nature. This riparian zone acts as a buffer between land and water and improves the water quality. The buffer also contributes to wildlife habitat.
Oct 24 2020 tree planting of extended area along One Mile Creek. (Photo by René Bertschi)
Thanks to the hard and steady work of 50 volunteers – working in two groups of 25 because of the pandemic – the planting and mulching was done in a period of six hours. This video by René Bertschi includes drone photography that shows the first group of volunteers hard at work.
Tree list
At the request of FOMC, the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) scoped the riparian restoration project for the area adjacent to One Mile Creek that is on land owned by the Town of NOTL. This is the park area where FOMC, working with Communities in Bloom and others, planted a demonstration native pollinator garden in 2016.
NPCA staff organized the tilling of sod to prepare for the planting as well as recruited students and others to join with FOMC volunteers for the planting.
A large area was densely planted with trees and shrubs and fully mulched. By planting trees in clusters, it is hoped that the network effect of their root systems will encourage faster and healthier growth. We also planted trees in line with the mature trees along King St. to provide for succession as the older trees decline.
Quantity
Popular name
Botanical name
25
Freeman maple
Acer x freemanii
20
Red maple
Acer rubrum
10
Sugar maple
Acer saccharum
55
Serviceberry
Amelanchier canadensis
50
Black chokeberry
Aronia melanocarpa
10
Hackberry
Celtis occidentalis
75
Red osier dogwood
Cornus sericea
4
Tulip tree
Lirodendron tulipifera
25
American sycamore
Platanus occidentalis
17
Swamp white oak
Quercus bicolor
13
Red oak
Quercus rubra
20
Burr oak
Quercus macrocarpa
6
Black oak
Quercus velutina
50
Willow species
Salix species
40
Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
30
Nannyberry
Viburnum lentago
Trees 4 NOTL project
We hope this first “Trees 4 NOTL” project will encourage more planting along One Mile Creek to restore the riparian zone.
Most of One Mile Creek flows past private property. Where adjacent neighbours of properties on One Mile Creek are receptive to riparian planting, we will try to organize a grant that can cover 75% of the cost of tree planting. If interested, please contact us using the form below.
Volunteers planting and mulching450 native plants and shrubs on Oct. 24, 2020. (Photo by René Bertschi).
NPCA grant for King & John park
The Oct. 24 tree planting was made possible with a restoration project grant from NPCA, a community-based natural resource management agency that works to protect, enhance and sustain healthy watersheds. NPCA offers watershed programs and services that focus on flood and hazard management, source water protection, species protection, ecosystem restoration, community stewardship and land management. It is one of 36 conservation authorities in Ontario.
Over the past two years ago, we engaged in discussions with several organizations in order to develop the plans. We’ve been helped by:
Parks and Works staff of the Town
NPCA staff for the design, community engagement of volunteers and promotion
Parks Canada staff because the area to be planted borders the Butler Barracks land owned by Parks Canada
NOTL Communities in Bloom committee
NOTL Hydro (who removed decommissioned lines and poles on the site).
The project cost of $2,600 was covered by a $750 donation from a nearby landowner on the creek as well as a grant of $1,950 approved by the NPCA Board meeting on Oct. 16, 2019, as one of 31 restoration projects.
Because COVID prevented planting in spring 2020, the trees and shrubs were ordered and reserved to be available for this fall.
We will make a list of possible locations for future restoration projects in 2021 and 2022.
Interested in future plantings?
We hope to organize more restoration projects in 2022 on the private property along One Mile Creek. Please let us know of your possible interest. At this point, there is no commitment to participate and we cannot guarantee that a project will be planned and approved.
Photo gallery: Planting day
More than 50 volunteers helped with tree planting King and John Oct 24 2020Oct 24 2020: Starting to mulch the newly planted native trees and shrubs.View from drone of entire planting area for restoring riparian zone of One Mile Creek along King Street.Oct. 24 after planting (left to right): Michael Fox, FOMC; Stuart McPherson, NPCA; Klara Young-Chin, FOMC; Kerry Royer, NPCA; Dylan Muileboom, Town of NOTL.
Photo gallery: before tree planting
Oct 19 2020: Hydro poles removed, turf tilled for tree planting
March 29 2020: View from John Street when Town staked property boundary with Parks Canada
