We visited Kat Kinch’s new home garden recently (Heritage and Habitat), and today Kat is sharing a cool community gardening project in Ontario, where she lives.
The Warkworth Little Forest is the best of community initiatives: organized with a minimum of meetings, by a group of helpful volunteer contributors known as “forest gnomes,” and for public benefit and enjoyment. Placed at the gateway to a popular local walking trail where an annual lilac festival is held, this 13-foot by 13-foot site is home to approximately 40 trees and shrubs that are local to our watershed and chosen for their wildlife value for butterflies and birds as host plants and habitat. The planting is comprised mainly of upland species, suitable to a full-sun location with moderate soil conditions.
The little forest is planted in the Miyawaki method, a style of urban reforestation that involves very dense planting of canopy and understory trees and plants. Such miniature forests grow very quickly due to their internal competition, forming an interconnected thicket of high-quality vegetation in a relatively short period of time, and establishing in years instead of decades.
The Warkworth Little Garden site was prepared as a no-dig bed, with the underlying grass covered with cardboard, and was heavily mulched in the late spring. (This first photo is by Kat’s friend Linda; the rest she took.)
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