Out of all of EALT’s conservation lands, Bunchberry Meadows is by far our most popular. Its proximity to both Devon and Edmonton makes it easily accessible, and its 8.9 kilometres of trails offer a wealth of different views and experiences for all visitors.
Autumn at Bunchberry Meadows.
It’s the product of the shared vision of several different landowners who, after 40 years of shared private conservation, donated it to the Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) and Edmonton and Area Land Trust, who now jointly own and steward the property. It’s also our largest conservation land, stretching over 613 acres of a unique mixed forest and multiple meadows. Home to many wildlife species and rarely seen trees in the region, it is now treasured by the hundreds of visitors it sees each month.
Along with its stunning natural beauty, did you know that Bunchberry Meadows is home to three plots managed by the Edmonton Native Plant Society (ENPS)? Each week during the growing season, volunteers from ENPS carefully maintain and cultivate plants native strictly to the Edmonton region. You might see them during their weekly work sessions along the driveway to the parking lot for Bunchberry Meadows.
To get to know this initiative better, we asked Cherry Dodd, lead volunteer organizer for the Bunchberry plots, and Adrian Jones, a dedicated ENPS volunteer, some questions about how the project started, what keeps them involved in the project, and the eventual outcomes Cherry would like to see from it all.
Read on to find out more about this unique partnership!
A map detailing the location of the ENPS plots referenced in the article.
Gallardia (Blanket Flower) in the arid plots north of the driveway.
How did the project begin?
ENPS had been asking NCC if they could establish some plots with native flowers somewhere, and were surprised when they were contacted by Tree Time, a tree planting contractor, to help restore the disturbed area around the driveway and parking lot that had just been placed at Bunchberry Meadows. The contract called for wildflower seeds, and Cherry’s name came up from an employee who had worked with her before and knew she had been doing work with native plants.
When they saw the plots they’d be working with, they were happy to see that the area had been heavily impacted by the machinery used to install the parking lot, and the substrate they were left to work with was extremely sandy and bare. All the soil had been stripped, along with the invasive Smooth brome grass that would have otherwise been hard to take out before planting could begin. Unfortunately, part of this impact included the compaction of the ground by the machines that were parked on the site during construction.
The contract called for seeds, but Cherry knew that the germination rate would be too low. Seeds are hard to establish, so Cherry and Adrian also planted plugs to help give the new garden a head start. They hand-dug the remaining non-native grasses away from the area to give the native seedlings a chance to grow. Some were planted strategically along the fence line to retain the ground structure and moisture in the soil.
When did the second plot become established beside the dugout?
The south plot by the dugout pond.
The same year that ENPS got to work on the north part of the driveway, they began to establish plots up the slope from the dugout on the south side of the driveway. When they began, the area was just grass, which strongly outcompetes native wildflowers. Around five people contributed to the diversity of plants that exist there now.
In contrast to the plots just a few meters north, this plot has the challenge of luxuriant growth – often overgrowth of undesirable plants that pose a threat to the native plants by outcompeting them. When they started, they had to deal with thistles as tall as a person! After years of careful tending, the native wildflowers are abundant and lush due to plentiful water and the lack of encroaching grasses and weeds.
EALT staff tour the plot west of the parking lot.
How are the gardens maintained?
The plots are watered by volunteers, particularly in the plots that are more arid. Leaf litter mulch was placed at the bases of the plants in the drier plots to retain moisture and allow the plants to benefit nutritionally from degrading leaf matter. Given the sandy substrate and lack of moisture, the plants on the north side of the driveway grow more slowly than their neighbours to the south. On the south side of the driveway, they have more of a challenge controlling the overgrowth of plants both wanted and unwanted, as they need to maintain pathways through the garden to be able to care for it.
Weeding is another consistent challenge for both plots, because if left to grow, they can easily overcrowd the native plants. Volunteers go out weekly, at least, to keep on top of these tasks, and some visit more frequently.
Looking towards the road from the parking lot.
What keeps volunteers coming back?
Cherry expressed that the novelty of each day keeps her invested. Each day brings something different, with new surprises: like finding a Tiger salamander, garter snakes, Mallard ducks nesting on the dugout, muskrats, and of course seeing how the plants in the plots grow. She finds the work fun and rewarding, and she ultimately hopes that she can pass down her knowledge and expertise on to others who share a passion for the Edmonton region’s native plants.
What advice does ENPS have for those wanting to establish their own native plant gardens?
Philadelphia Fleabane
Cherry advises starting small. Each seedling, plug, or plant needs a lot of maintenance to help it get established in its first couple of years, and keeping up with only one or a few plants is much easier than suddenly transitioning to an entire yard’s worth of new plants to care for.
Another point she strongly emphasized is making sure that all lawn grass is taken out before planting. Lawn grass is non-native and very invasive, and native plants can’t compete with it. Make a barrier around the outside of the bed, such as a trench, or use lawn edging to stop lawn grasses from invading. Promptly remove any lawn grasses that sprout in the garden bed to reduce spreading.
The other wisdom she had to offer was to plant what you like. It sounds simple, but this is a good way to ensure that your garden will succeed. Choose plants that appeal to you and will fit into your schedule in terms of what you want to maintain. All plants need care directly after planting, but it helps to think of the long-term goals you’d like to reach.
What are the long-term goals for the ENPS plant plots?
When we asked Cherry what her goal was when she started out, she gestured to the gardens and said, “This, basically.” Given that it’s going so well, we later asked how she hoped the garden would come along in another 5, or even 50 years.
She expressed a willingness to leave it to nature, saying that in 50 years it could be a forest. There were Jack pines planted when ENPS was first contacted to establish the plant plots just in the areas surrounding them. This was done with the intention to reforest the area.
Poplar saplings planted near the Bunchberry Meadows parking lot as part of the restoration effort.
The effort to reforest this section of Bunchberry Meadows is ongoing, evidenced by the planting of some new poplar saplings this year. The last restoration effort via live-staking the poplars from the surrounding forest didn’t establish well, so the hope is to encourage reforestation with the new saplings.
Whatever the future looks like, it’s clear that passionate volunteers are helping to cultivate a future dedicated to the restoration and upkeep of Bunchberry Meadows’ natural beauty.
It takes a community to sustain conservation efforts. From forests sharing nutrients via their root networks to human volunteers working as a team to encourage the growth of native plants, each of us has a role to play when it comes to conserving our natural areas. You can become a part of this community effort by donating to local conservation organizations like EALT, volunteering, or even spreading the word about us.
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