Visitors are sometimes surprised to find GreenUP staff at Ecology Park once the native plant nursery has officially closed for the season. In fact, the weeks between Thanksgiving and mid-November are some of the busiest of the year for the organization — a short but crucial window to wrap up operations and prepare for the winter ahead.
The main project this October is the construction of an energy-efficient greenhouse, which will be passively heated by the sun.
This new structure, located directly across from the natural playscape, will add 24 square metres of space (akin to roughly six king size beds) to grow more high-quality, locally adapted native plants for gardeners, landscapers, and restoration professionals.
This is a welcome addition to GreenUP’s native plant propagation program. In the past, many vulnerable seedlings were at the mercy of the elements on the grounds of Ecology Park, while many others were placed on racks along the walls of the organization’s downtown Peterborough office space.
Funding from the federal government’s New Horizons for Seniors program has allowed for this new expansion, and GreenUP staff are excited to see many months of planning and preparation come to fruition this fall.
Once complete, the greenhouse will be filled with thousands of seeds that require “cold stratification” — a period of cold, damp conditions that enables them to break dormancy. The greenhouse will protect the young seedlings as they germinate and grow in late winter and early spring.
It will also provide sheltered space for education and volunteer programming, as well as a warm sheltered area for staff to carry out tasks on chilly November mornings.
Tree planting is another fall activity; one that brings out many volunteers. The fall is a great time to plant since trees focus on developing roots, rather than keeping their leaves and seeds alive. Not to mention that planting is difficult to prioritize in the spring and summer, when GreenUP’s nursery and educational programs are at their busiest.
More than 800 trees, shrubs, wildflowers, grasses, and sedges will be added to the park this fall, with over half becoming part of Ecology Park’s flagship Little Forest. This installation will demonstrate the Miyawaki approach to urban afforestation named for Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.
In this method, a diverse assortment of trees and shrubs are planted very densely in degraded sites after amending the soil with plenty of organic matter and fungi, two of the elements that support mature, healthy forests. The dense planting strategy encourages rapid canopy growth in small urban spaces that need it the most.
At 100 square metres (that’s 24 king size beds), the Little Forest is a dramatic addition to the park’s growing collection of educational demonstration projects.
The remaining trees, shrubs, and perennials will be planted throughout the woodland section of the park (a space about the size of three NHL hockey rinks), in partnership with the Trans Canada Trail through their Planting for Tomorrow grant, and with support from Trent University’s Invasive Species Action Fund project.
GreenUP volunteers have been busy removing invasive buckthorn from this area of the park all summer in preparation for this planting.
These additions will restore some of the canopy lost at Ecology Park due to emerald ash borer, the 2022 derecho, and the ice storm in 2025. They will also increase biodiversity, and eventually, provide seeds for GreenUP’s expanded plant propagation program.
Of course, there is still a long list of quiet, behind-the-scenes work that also needs to happen before the park, and its staff, can rest for the winter.
Just a few of these include inventorying tools and equipment, winterizing outbuildings and infrastructure, cleaning the gutters of the nursery building and other structures, dragging the dock back onto dry land, protecting newly planted trees and shrubs, and covering nursery stock with leaves to protect them from the cold winter wind.
These tasks happen regardless of the weather and with few hands, which makes the coldest days a challenge.
At the same time, quiet, grey, November days at the park are magical. From changing leaves to unexpected wildlife sightings, there is much to appreciate.
There are still opportunities to volunteer at Ecology Park this season. For more information, visit the GreenUP event calendar at greenup.on.ca/events/ or contact volunteer coordinator Christina Balint at christina.balint@greenup.on.ca or 705-745-3238 ext. 202.
