Is Your Garden Killing Our Planet ? Tri-Cities Forum Provides Lots of Information for Gardening Ecologically in the Lower Mainland.

Is you garden killing out planet ? Many Canadians cling to "western" gardening methods that are poorly suited to the environment in which we live and are major contributors to global warming.

This two hour well-attended forum in the Tri-Cities hosted by Nancy Furness of the Wondrous Tree Fellowship and James Bobick of the Wondrous Tree Fellowship and Burke Mountain Naturalists, is chock full of information on how you can make your garden more inviting for pollinators and friendlier to the environment.

As Furness explains, the lawn is probably the most egregious element of modern living environments. Lawns need a lot of watering, and the mowing is polluting.  She shows pictures illuminating the 'lawn story' in Western Europe's history. 'Lawns' came with waves of immigrants from Western Europe and particularly the British Isles.

With the introduction of the European Chafer beetle to the Vancouver Lower Mainland back in 2015/16, we seem to be loosing an ever increasing battle to maintain our lawns. As explained, a whole economy seems to have developed to maintain our lawns including grub removal services, re-turfing services, and even worse, chemical treatments for the lawn.

Perhaps it's time to re-strategize. Perhaps it's time to take a hint from nature itself, as the forum hosts suggest.

They provide a comprehensive picture of the many ways that people can create a garden to enjoy and that provides a hospitable place for birds and bees. For example, the host ask viewers if they have considered the cost to our planet of continually purchasing and planting annuals in your flower garden? Annuals have a rather large carbon footprint compared to perennials, so just making that switch alone can make a significant difference. Using indigenous plants is another example of how to make your garden area attractive to pollinators.