Ontario Nature Blog

After retiring from teaching, Jeanne McRight found herself back in the classroom to earn a horticulture diploma from the University of Guelph. Among her assignments? Create an urban sustainability project connected to her own garden. But what started as a school project would soon grow far beyond the classroom. McRight was already an avid gardener. ...

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Imagine the roadsides of expressways being a meadow of native flowering plants instead of mown turf grass. Imagine the beauty and habitat for pollinators that this would create. The dream of the Pollinator Roadsides, a project of Waterloo Region Nature, is that this will become the normal practice. These roadside areas constitute potential important pollinator ...

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How do you picture the perfect lawn? For most, an image of a well-manicured, freshly mowed yard comes to mind. With hot weather approaching, many Ontarians are starting to wake up to the sound of the neighbors’ mower and sprinkler systems. However, while lawns can be visually attractive, they are monoculture ecosystems that rarely support ...

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Plant lovers are turning their focus from tending houseplants to giving outdoor gardens new life. In a year when so many of us are working from home, staring over the computer screen into our backyards, a little garden work is just what the doctor ordered.   While the houseplant trend rages on, another horticulture trend has been taking root. From home gardeners to growers to municipalities, people are starting to ...

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Growing native wildflowers from seed is fun and rewarding. It beautifies your backyard in an ecologically-friendly way and can be done for little start-up cost and maintenance! Here are five simple steps you can take to turn your native wildflower seeds into a backyard oasis for yourself and the wildlife that visits.

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