Date: June 21st, 2025
Time: 10 a.m. to noon
Where: 350 Avondale Ave. Street parking on Avondale, Edison, and any of the nearby cross streets
Six years ago, this busy corner was torn up for infrastructure upgrades. The soil is sandy loam (low water-holding capacity, low nutrient content) and the post-construction backfill was little more than sand and gravel. Turf would not grow there.
A fan of Doug Tallamy, Christine saw an opportunity to make, not just a garden, but an ecosystem that would support all sorts of creatures. As she remarked, “I was new to natives at that point and the learning curve was steep, but there is no better way to learn than to plant, observe and experiment.”
A garden designer, Christine created a meadow that “drifts in and out of dry shade/savannah.” She used such design elements as the repetition of a colour across the landscape and the proportion of more structural plants. She also kept ecological considerations in mind, such as covering bare ground with ground layer plants as much as possible to fill niches and benefit the soil biome.
Christine is looking forward to telling you more about her garden. Bee researcher, Gil Miranda will also be on hand to identify pollinators and talk about how you and your garden can help them.
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See blog post about Christine’s garden
Full list of 2025 garden tours