Date: August 10th, 2024
Time: 10 a.m. to noon
Where: Meet at Sunnyside Public Library, 1049 Bank Street
Street beds and rain gardens in an urban neighbourhood
About 10 years ago the city installed raised beds and planted trees along Bank Street in Old Ottawa South. Watering was needed, and OOS residents stepped up to take care of the trees. But they didn’t stop there. Under an adopt-a-road agreement, they filled the beds with flowers and shrubs and have been tending them ever since.
The longest street bed, next to the library, contains Pearly Everlasting, Lance-leaved Coreopsis, Butterfly Weed, Wild Bergamot, Yarrow, and many other native and non-native species.
At about the same time, the City created rain gardens on Sunnyside Avenue – a pilot project to show how rain can be held and absorbed by growing plants instead of running into catchbasins or causing floods. The project was a success, and OOS volunteers have now taken over maintenance of these gardens as well. Maintenance is a challenge as species arrive and depart and rainwater washes seeds from the whole street into the beds.
On this tour, Lydia Wong will be on hand to identify bees and other pollinators and volunteer gardeners – Green Dreamers – will also provide information about maintenance and good garden practices under difficult conditions.
This tour involves walking – up to 1.5 km if we visit all the beds.
Free, but registration required.
This rain garden on Sunnyside at Grosvenor was planted by the city with horticultural varieties of Panic Grass, New England Asters, Rough-stemmed Goldenrods, and other species. Many have disappeared; Canada Anemones, Common Milkweed, and a horsetail species arrived on their own; and Pearly Everlasting was planted.