Planting Spots Available

Room to Bloom

Calling all gardeners (or wannabees)!

Have you noticed the large concrete planters at the north end of Champlain Park? You know the ones, they block off the de-paved section of Pontiac by the Environment Committee’s Pollinator Garden and its forest terraces.

These planters are planted and tended annually by some very avid gardeners, some of whom may also happen to be your neighbours. This year, some planters remain available, and we are looking for someone to fill them with some wonderful colours or greenery.

As the adoptive parent of a planter, you would be responsible for filling it with non-invasive herbs, vegetables, or colourful flowers, and then tending it for the season.

Please reach out to Alexandra at alexandra@evershed.ca if you are interested.

Thank you for helping make our community just a little greener. Every action helps!

Champlain Park Environment Committee

Restoring Native Biodiversity

The Daniel Avenue turkey (A.K.A. the Patricia Avenue turkey) has delighted our front and back yard vistas all summer long, another sign of native biodiversity coming back to life in Champlain Park. Last summer a deer spent a month or so grazing the same area, rabbits abound everywhere, and we have enjoyed glimpses of foxes here and there. The ground hogs are not as much fun, or the occasional skunk, but overall relatively harmless creatures if left alone.

More widely appreciated are the trees and gardens along the de-paved section of Pontiac Avenue, and in various fragments of the NCC forest (A.K.A. the Champlain Woodlands). To celebrate these spaces, the Environment Committee has installed a sign at the ball diamond. The piece of wood is from the same Grandmother oak tree removed in 2011 from Northwestern Avenue that also graces the outside wall of the Field House (the dated cookie). The tree was a sapling in 1857, a decade before Canada became a country.

Sebastian Hadjiantoniou from Daniel Avenue created the sign while Mark Hartley of Clearview Avenue built the stand (and the earlier installation on the Field House). Our stalwart captain of engineering works, Kris Phillips of Northwestern Avenue dug the hole and poured the cement base. Daniel Buckles (Daniel on Daniel) launched the project, donated the wood and stickhandled the various bureaucracies to get it done.

Heartfelt thanks to the Champlain Park Community Association for important financial and administrative support, and to the office of Councillor Jeff Leiper, where a solution to the permissions puzzle was found. The City of Ottawa provided funding for tree planting on the various terraces, as did the the Ottawa family of Peter Sims (1980-2021), a committed climate activist.

We hope you are enjoying the trees and gardens this summer, along with the flowering and edible planters. The sign is intended to give local residents and the many people that pass through our community a bit of the story behind restoring native biodiversity in Champlain Park.

Planting Spots Available

Subject: Re: Planters flourishing
Date: Tue, 18 May 2021 10:32
From: Alexandra Evershed

Calling all gardeners!

Have you noticed the large planters at the north end of Champlain park that block off the de-paved area?

These are planted and tended by some of your neighbours. A couple of planters are available this year. As the adoptive parent of a planter, you would be responsible for filling it (herbs, vegetables, or colourful flowers) and tending it. Please reach out to Alexandra at alexandra@evershed.ca if you are interested.

Thank you!

Planting Spots Available

Subject: Re: Planting season!
Date: Fri, 15 May 2020 13:46:15 +0000
From: Alexandra Evershed

Calling all gardeners!

Have you noticed the large planters at the north end of Champlain park that block off the de-paved area?

These are planted and tended by some of your neighbours. A couple of planters are available this year. Please contact Alexandra (alexandra@evershed.ca) if you would like to adopt one!

Thank you!

Alexandra Evershed

Pontiac Planters and Depaving

Daniel Buckles writes:

That was easy! All planters have been picked up, with one water-helper from last year now taking #3 between Alexandra’s herb’s and Lori’s tall grasses (Thanks Kathy). Everyone has the go ahead to proceed when you are ready. Fabulous.

FYI, the Pontiac Ave depaving may occur in September of this year (or later). This does not affect your plans, other than at harvest time. The depaving is managed by Councillor Leiper’s office, with Adrian Bradley as the local association executive contact for this. Jeff has confirmed verbally that the 7 planters will remain in the community even after the depaving is complete (although locations may change).

As of now, I am formally bowing out of the coordinator role. The group information is below, so I will leave it to one of you to pick up the reins of keeping each other in touch and supporting as needed. This might include putting up a notice of progress once in a while to the community association website.

Thanks for your enthusiastic planting and tending. I remain active in the neighbourhood on tree planting and other environment projects. Cheers, Daniel

Planter Assignments:

Heather Pearl
Alexandra Evershed
Kathy Choquettee
Lori Kibbee
Lianne Bellisario
Kelly Wiles
Lauren Simon

Environmental Initiatives Meeting – January 17

Interested in learning about and contributing to environmental initiatives in Champlain Park? Meet with us on Thursday, January 17 from 7-9 PM at the Field House. We will discuss the steps we can take together to foster sustainable living in a healthy urban environment, including:

Rehabilitation of the “Little Woods” (Patricia and Clearview northeast corner lot)
Discuss extension and widening of the existing trail between Carleton, Northwestern and the Remic Rapids Woods
Rehabilitation of selected sections of the Champlain Woods (invasive species, tree planting)
City’s plan for the Northwestern median
Options for planting street trees
Update on the Pontiac Street closure
The Planters and potential for community garden.

Convened by Daniel Buckles and Adrian Bradley, Co-Chairs, Environment Committee of the Champlain Park Community Association.

Champlain Park’s Intrepid Volunteers (Planters)

Have you enjoyed the flowers, grasses and herbs in the 7 planters on Pontiac Street? They were established and cared for this summer by 8 local volunteers:

Lianne Bellisario
Alexi Cambell
Kathy Choquette
Alexandra Evershed
Lori Kibbee
Heather Pearl
Lauren Simon
Kelly Wiles

Daniel Buckles coordinated the activity and liaised with the City of Ottawa and Councillor Leiper’s office.

Thanks to you all!

Continue reading “Champlain Park’s Intrepid Volunteers (Planters)” →

Water a Pontiac Planter!

From: DANIEL BUCKLES <dbuckles@sas2.net>
Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2018 08:32:38 -0400

Dog Walkers and River Riders

The community now has 7 planters to beautify the extension of Champlain Park at Pontiac Avenue, cared for by volunteer gardeners. To help them along, we invite dog walkers and any others that enjoy going down to the river at Carleton Avenue to take some water with them for the plants. Soak a plant in a planter, rather than sprinkling water around, so that roots go deeper. This will help ease the worry of the volunteer gardeners throughout the season.

We would like to also give a big shout out to Councillor Jeff Leiper, and assistant Fiona Mitchell, for their dedication and hard work to get the planters in place and set for planting this season. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Adopt a Pontiac Street Planter

The Planters on Pontiac are almost ready for planting. The drainage issue has been resolved (holes drilled, gravel at bottom, lining for the planters) and we will soon have new soil (thanks to Fiona at Councillor Leipers’ office).

There are a few Planters available for adoption. If you are willing, please contact Daniel Buckles (dbuckles@sas2.net), the Environment Committee Co-chair. The adoption protocol is:

The primary purpose of the planters is to beautify the street scape. Other goals (plant diversity, habitat) are secondary but encouraged.
The planters are loaned by the City to the community at large, so are not owned by individuals.
Volunteers adopt a planter for a year at a time, renewable as desired.
Volunteers make their own plant selections (no food plants allowed in 2018, but this may change in future. Perennials are fine, as are annuals and herbs)
Volunteers maintain the planter they adopt, including watering as needed. Contact planter neighbours if you need help.

Help to green our community!

Adopt a Pontiac Planter!

Seven planters have been installed by the City at the Park on Pontiac, to create and beautify a new greenspace (pending removal of the NCC fence and some pavement). The Community is responsible for planting and caring for the Planters. Two have been adopted already by a generous neighbour (marked with a stake). Five more are available for adoption. Let the Environment Committee (dbuckles@sas2.net) know if you are willing to get some perennials started this fall, and care for further planting and watering of a planter in the Spring. The City rules require that no food plants be included in a City planter, for food safety and liability reasons.