By Bradley Lennon 

“Gardens are, or at least have the potential to be, an enormous but as yet untapped solution to the climate and biodiversity crisis,” states Kate Bradbury, author of “One Garden Against the World: In Search of Hope in a Changing Climate”[1]. Her first reason for declaring this is that gardens imitate the forest edges, replicating their ability to retain water, moderate the winds, and provide food and homes for wildlife. Second, urban gardens absorb pollution and store carbon, and they help to reduce the temperatures of our cities. Above all, our individual gardens together link to form chains that connect to other ecosystems, vast corridors that enable species to move along between them in order that these organisms may find new regions where they can adapt to climate change.

by Catherine Smee and Jo-An Davies

Several years ago, the Gardening Ministry at Our Lady of Lourdes persuaded the rectory to remove a grassy extent and create a garden. At first, it was a “no” but in 2022, we were allowed to design it and we adopted the idea of a Canadian Native garden. We began in 2022. In 2023 we received a grant through Donna Lang via TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, and we added native plants.