planting native species

a mayapple!

This week, our after-school groups worked on planting native species at Breithaupt Park. An invasive plant, periwinkle, has been taking over sections of the forest floor - spreading from neighbours' backyards at a rapid pace. Volunteers weeded some of the periwinkle out in several areas. 

Josh Shea, coordinator of Kitchener's natural areas, taught us about native plants that would benefit the forest. He told us that these native plants will grow where the invasive plant was growing - and take up that space on the forest floor. This will benefit the creatures who live in the forest.

We planted:

• wild columbine
• bloodroot
• wild strawberries
• mayapples
• zigzag goldenrod

These plants were purchased at Nith River Native Plants in New Hamburg - a great local source if you'd like some native plants for your gardens.