By Kathleen Davies of St. Cuthbert's Leaside Anglican Church, Toronto.

What a difference a year makes! Our expanded pollinator gardens at St. Cuthbert’s Leaside exploded in this, its second season. Except…so did the weeds.  

Garden Angel volunteers. Photo credit: Kathleen Davies

We initially concentrated our human resources on refreshing the soil, weeding and taming the incredible burst of native perennials. However it was one step forward, two steps backwards until we received a generous donation of wood mulch. At the time, we were completing a major capital garden project at the Bayview/St. Cuthbert’s corner. When All Seasons, the landscaping company we hired had completed their mulching, they dropped the remaining 3/4 truck load for us to use on our pollinator and vegetable gardens!

Facing another summer of extreme heat and drought the mulch has served to retain moisture while providing a cohesive look to our gardens.

Beautiful mulch! Photo credit: Kathleen Davies

Our Gard’n Angel volunteers are committed to nurturing our wonderful garden and community; many “passers-by” have stopped to admire, a few even joining our team!
Our regular visitors have included bees, hummingbirds, monarchs and other varieties of butterflies and bugs…oh ya…and many neighbourhood dogs and their humans!

We are very grateful to TD Friends of the Environment, Scotts Canada and Faith and the Common Good (Donna Lang) for their enduring support.

Bumblebee on sunflower. Photo credit: Kathleen Davies