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nature photos |
Visit our Germination Gallery - Helping Nature Heal's photo collection.
Follow Janice Blain's lead and Send us your favourite nature photos and we'll share them with our e-news subscribers and website visitors! |
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free e-postcards! |
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| See Rosmarie's tip up today! |
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'tis the season . . . e-mail's best! |
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It's that time of year! Between March and November, Rosmarie spends long hours on the land - often getting home late - too late to return phone calls.
The best way to reach her is through e-mail.
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| Wild About Gardening is a project of the Canadian Wildlife Federation. Did you know over 2 billion litres of gasoline are used in lawn mowers each year? |
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| go wild - a project of the Ecology Action Centre |
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| HNH Heads out to Clay Island |
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| Beachcombing on Clay Island |
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| Rosmarie reads
Canadian Gardening! |
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| Ornamental grass grows tall! |
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Greetings!
 Welcome to the hot, steamy month of July - please remember to water your garden! In high humidity, our plants, trees, shrubs and containers are just as stressed as we are.
A few rain showers isn't enough to revitalize the plants, a good drink every seven days goes a long way.
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Make sure your plants have a slight "bowl" in the ground around them to contain the water;
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Apply water till it becomes a pool, let it sink in, then apply again.
This is called drenching and ensures the soil capacity to hold water is filled, the "pudding" tells you that all the spaces below ground have filled with water.
In this way, we know the root ball is saturated and will have plenty of water to get it through another hot summer week. If you are concerned with water consumption due to well dependence, install rain barrels under your eaves, or collect rain water in an old tub, buckets or holding pond.
Be creative and make this a summer of low stress for your plants!
Until next time - Happy Gardening!
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Rosmarie hosted an Open Garden - her garden - earlier in the month - despite heavy rains, turnout - and spirits were great!
by Wendy Annand
Program Co-ordinator
Rosmarie Bradley, our Horticultural Therapy volunteer, opened her home gardens to show how she incorporates many of the ideas and techniques she has been teaching in her gardening classes.
This included tip-ups (as shown on our e-news sidebar to the left), stumps, visual barriers,
greenhouse growing, holding beds, etc. 
We saw why Rosmarie has applied to have her yard certified as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat with the Canadian Wildlife Federation!
She described the planting techniques she uses with her very small town lot. We were impressed with the diversity she is able to grow there.
Participants also learned what can be done with the plants we grow all summer long. Rosmarie had nature craft books, seed saving ideas, and recipes for those who attended.
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| Attracting wildlife
Butterflies and other pollinators
 Pollinators aid in the transfer of pollen for the fertilization of plants. This process is essential to fruit and seed production.
While some plants, such as grasses, have very light pollen which can be transferred by wind, about 80% of flowering plants depend on pollinators.
When people think of pollination, bees usually come to mind. Yes, they are the principal pollinators, but there are other important ones as well. They include insects such as flies, moths, butterflies, wasps, and even some beetles. They also include hummingbirds and bats.
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| Garden Landscape - a look at July
Another busy month ahead!
Thursday July 12, 5 - 8 pm - Gardening Drop-in at Second Story Women's Centre: Women are invited to come in with any gardening or related questions (from planting to tending, harvesting to drying, using plants for crafts or whatever). From our Horticultural Therapy area, you can borrow magazines and books to look over at home. Bring your questions, your children, and your lunch if you like. There will also be summer craft making for all who attend. Come and make a sunhat!
Thursday July 19, 5 - 8 pm - Garden Tour of Harbourview Haven: Meet at Second Story Women's Centre at 5 or at Harbourview Haven at 5:30 for a tour of the gardens, including the wildflower meadows. Helping Nature Heal supports Lunenburg's Home for Special Care with the Harbourview Haven Garden Club. Come and see the artistic results of all the hard work done by volunteers and residents alike.
Thursday July 26, 5 - 8 pm - Tour of Forest Restoration Project in Feltzen South: Come join us for a tour of a property severely damaged by high winds - see what has been accomplished to date and what is planned for the land. Meet at Second Story at 5 or on the land at 5:30.
Please register by calling 543-1315 or 640-3044.
SSWC programs are free and open to all women. Coed programs are advertised as such or say, "Everyone is welcome". Minimal childcare and transportation subsidies are available. |
 What's a little rain?
Walk-about on Clay Island
On June 16, at 10 am, a group of nearly 60 enthusiasts headed out to Clay Island through the fog, drizzle and rain. They included Grade 5 students, teachers, parents, volunteers and members of the Chester Chapter, Nova Scotia Nature Trust.
 They were transported by motor boat to the island where Rosmarie led two groups on hikes through the woods, pausing to introduce them to the beauty of the forest.
We had a great time," she says. "It was rainy, but lovely and warm, the kids were great - they didn't care they were getting wet."
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 Canadian Wildlife Federation
Applauding home gardeners
The Backyard Habitat Certification Program recognizes Canadians practicing earth-friendly gardening, protecting naturalized habitat and meeting the habitat needs of wildlife:
Food - combinations of seed, nut, or fruit-producing trees, berry-producing shrubs, grasses, and/or flowers.
Water - If space limitations prohibit a pond, consider a birdbath or water bowl.
Shelter - Evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, snags (dead trees), brush piles, logs, and rock piles are all ways to provide wildlife with protection from inclement weather and predators.
Space - Bird's view your property in three-dimensional terms. Diverse layers of vegetation - such as tall and short trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and groundcover -increases the "space" of your habitat.
Learn more about certifying your backyard! |
 Private garden tour
On June 28, we hosted a private garden tour - we've looked after Carole Collins' garden in Mader's Cove since 2002.
"Thank you for today's garden tour . . . that was so interesting and very kind of you." - Janice Blair, a garden tour participant
See another Janice photo at the top left sidebar column! |
| Go Wild! Redefine your lawn!
Ecology Action Centre
Why be a slave to mowing and feeding a lawn?
 Free yourself from this unnecessary chore: plant trees, groundcovers, native plants, wildlife gardens, rock gardens, woodland gardens, meadow gardens . . . The first and best thing you can do if you have an existing natural area on your property, is to let it stay that way: Go Wild!
Naturalized gardens, tree planting and ecological restoration can help bring back some of the ecological benefits of a natural area to a piece of land. But it can take an extremely long time for it to become established enough to have the same characteristics as an untouched piece of land. This is due to the fact that it will take a long time for species missing from the site to move in - if indeed they ever do.
In many cases, the distance to an established natural area may be too far for species to cross. It's always better to protect an existing developed ecosystem if you have one, rather than trying to start from scratch.
If you are in the process of developing land for a new home, work with your developers to see that as much of the original landscape as possible is left intact, whether that means not cutting down trees or preventing a section of meadow from being bulldozed unnecessarily.
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