A haven for the bees and butterflies
For Sylene Corbett, the Bobolink community gardens is more than just the vegetables and flowers planted in it.
“It really seems to be empowering,” said Corbett, who’s lived for seven years at the Millwood/Bobolink CityHousing complex, near Mohawk Road East and Upper Wellington Street. “People stay here. There’s not too much turnover. We live in a great neighbourhood.
“With the addition of the gardens, that’s just made it feel so much more like home.”
Helping hands from the neighbourhood planted the more than 20 plots last year and have been taking care of them since. On Friday, some from the community showed up to offer a hand planting a woodenframed, pollinator-friendly garden on their property, which will help their vegetable crops grow. The beeand butterfly-friendly plants were supplied by the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club and Environment Hamilton as part of their ongoing project called the Hamilton Pollinator Paradise Project.
Since 2014, the two organizations have been working to build a “pollinator corridor” across Hamilton. So far there are about 40 gardens, which include plants like asters, goldenrod, wild strawberries and bergamot. When finished, the goal is to have a pollinator-friendly garden located every 300 metres across the city, including on private properties, to make Hamilton a refuge for pollinators, said Jen Baker, land trust manager for the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club.
“We want to make it like a safe space for pollinators,” she said. “Urban areas can be good for pollinators.”
Bringing community members on board is key to reaching their target, said Baker, noting there are too many gardens for the organizations to maintain themselves.
“Nothing in Hamilton works without Hamiltonians involved,” she said.