Riparian Lake Edge Garden

Lake Edge flowers, shrubs and grasses that provide important habitat that will directly and indirectly help fish populations. If the lake/river/pond water level varies, be sure to plant beyond the highest point of water edge fluctuation. 

Monarch Butterfly Gardens

 A mix of 38 native wildflowers from Southern Ontario, chosen to provide food for all stages of the butterfly's life cycle. By planting a monarch butterfly garden in your yard, you provide important habitat and food. Plant in full sun, all types of soil, however a good loam will provide better results.

Red Oak (Native Deciduous) - Quercus Rubra

Beautiful large tree, excellent for landscape use . Prefers sand/loam soils, with a well to moderate drainage. Red Oaks should be planted in a full sun to partial shade environment. Squirrels and wild turkeys are attracted to the acorns. Can grow up to 24 meters. “A good candidate to battle against Climate change as it can grow in harsher conditions. It will also be an important species to counteract the devastating impacts of the Beech Bark Disease currently killing our American beech in the Parry Sound/Muskoka area, as Red Oak is considered second to American beech in terms of importance as a mast species for wildlife such as deer and bear.”

White Birch (Native Deciduous) Betula Papyrifera

Found on forest edges, lakeshores and roadsides, usually mixed with other birches, pines, spruces, hemlock, maples. Resistant to most diseases.

White Pine (Native Evergreen) - Pinus Strobus

This is a rapid growing tree with wide spreading lateral roots and is an important nesting and perching tree. This tree achieves a maximum height of 30 meters in dry or moist conditions. A shore stabilization tree, it requires a sunny or part-shade environment.

White Spruce (Native Evergreen) - Picea Glauca

White Spruce grow on a variety of soils under a wide range of conditions. This includes moist or wet conditions in the sun or part-sun. It can be used for shore stabilization. Needles are short and light green in colour.  Excellent for Christmas trees, windbreaks and landscape. They can grow up to 24 meters.

White Cedar (Native Evergreen) - Thuja Occidentalis

Narrow growing. Makes excellent hedging plants. Dark green foliage. Grows in wet areas, but tolerates most soils. Better in sand, loam, clay types of soil; it can grow up to 15 meters.

Red Osier Dogwood (Native Deciduous Shrub) - Cornus Sericea

Noted for its red branches, great background with snow. Produces small white flowers and white berries. Should be planted in a dry to moist sand/loam/clay soil; full sun to partial shade. Red osier dogwoods can grow up to 3 meters and are excellent for erosion control.

American Highbush Cranberry (Native Deciduous Shrub)  Vacinium Macrocarpon

Found in swamps and open bogs on wet shores of ponds and streams.

Serviceberry (Native Deciduous Shrub) Amelanchier Arborea

Wildly distributed in Southern Ontario, in open fields, edges of woods, thickets, wooded slopes, sandy bluffs and rocky ridges.

Ostrich Fern (Native Perennials)

This fern is deer resistant, and should be planted in a moist sand/slit soil,  with partial shade/sun exposure. It strives along streams and riverbanks and in moist forested sites.

Speckled Alder (Native Alnus Rugose)

Small Tree or Shrub. Does well in wet areas, likes streams and banks. Can withstand cold weather climates. Deer resistant and has a moderately fast growth rate. Can identify from other alders or similar species as it has pores or speckles on its branches. This alder has nitrogen fixing properties and is know to help poplars and ash species nearby to grow quickly. The alder itself is a fast growing species.

Pussy Willow (Native Salix Discolor)

Commonly found throughout Ontario Lives in damp meadows and along shorelines. These trees have invasive roots, so plant your cuttings far away from septic tank fields, sewer lines, or water lines. Pussy Willows can be kept more compact and shrub-like through proper pruning. These plants love moisture. They thrive along banks of streams in the wild and are useful for controlling soil erosion. 

Sources:

· On the Living Edge – Your handbook for waterfront Living, Sarah Kipp, Clive Callaway Conservation Ontario , 2003

· Richardson’s Pineneedle Farms – 2018 Seedling Guide

· Sassafras Farms

· Michael Henry, R.P.F.—ShoreLines Fall 2015

· Forests Ontario

Seedling Day is

May 18, 2019