July 11, 2024
Volunteers gathered in Sunnybrook's Bayview Campus to plant flora that attract pollinators.
Toronto Chapter volunteers help to attract pollinators
By Yuantong Anita Liu
On June 1, 2024, volunteers gathered at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto, Ont., to enhance the tranquil grounds surrounding the campus by planting pollinator-friendly flora.
Supported by Landscape Ontario’s Toronto Chapter, Michael Lithgow, manager of energy and climate action at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, was one of the organizers on site.
“We're very proud of our gardens. The gardens are valuable assets for employees as a place to relax and collect their thoughts and emotions after a hard day at work, or for patients when they can get out. It helps the healing process and it's for the community as well,” Lithgow said.
As one of the co-chairs of the Green Task Force, Lithgow said they were thrilled to take this offer from Landscape Ontario.
“Companies that are members of Landscape Ontario offered to supply plants and some labour to help beautify our gardens,” Lithgow said.
Beautifying the space for the long term was a key goal of this event.
Michael Lithgow (left) talking to a volunteer.
“The plants we embed are perennials. They'll keep coming back year after year.Not a lot of maintenance is required,” said Lithgow. “They are a very valuable food source for the local pollinators as well.”
David Milne, owner of Quercus Gardens and a member of Landscape Ontario’s Provincial Board of Directors since 2022, attended this event as a volunteer.
Milne estimated 1,000 plants were embedded by the 27 volunteers at the event. People from various organizations and communities engaged in the activities.
“We are losing the connection with nature,” Milne said. “I am so glad to see people coming from different communities, gathering to talk and enjoy the connections with nature again.”
Lorraine Lee, a graduate of Landscape Ontario’s GROW program, learned about this event from an email sent by Landscape Ontario. She decided to invite her friends Maris and Natalie to volunteer together.
“It is awesome,” Lee said. “I get to know more about plants and it's interesting to get planting done with other people as a group event.”
“I felt the connection with nature,” Maris added, “and the chance to accomplish something together with my groupmates.”
It was Maris and Natalie’s first time working in a public garden and they appreciated the expertise on hand as well as the flexibility to use their creativity.
“It's quite relaxing because it does not have very strict guidelines on how we should do it. They just give us very simple instructions and we can plant on our own,” Natalie said.
The Veterans’ Therapeutic Garden is a private visiting garden open for the residents of the K and L Wings of the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre.
Janet Phillips, who has been the horticultural therapist at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre since September 2013, worked in the therapeutic garden and shared insights about how horticulture is beneficial for veterans.
According to Phillips, around 150 people came out from the building and enjoyed this outdoor garden every day before the pandemic occurred.
“The garden is used by four different populations: veterans, chronic care that came over during the pandemic, the transitional community coming from the hospitals, and all the visitors and families,” Phillips explained.
Phillips recalled one of the wives of a palliative care resident: “She walked by me and said, ‘We have to give up our beautiful garden at home because my husband is sick, but when we come out here, I feel like we are home again.
“There are so many different stories about how a garden impacts people, and I don't have to be here for that impact to happen. My job as a horticultural therapist is to keep this place peaceful, safe and interactive.”
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On June 1, 2024, volunteers gathered at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto, Ont., to enhance the tranquil grounds surrounding the campus by planting pollinator-friendly flora.
Supported by Landscape Ontario’s Toronto Chapter, Michael Lithgow, manager of energy and climate action at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, was one of the organizers on site.
“We're very proud of our gardens. The gardens are valuable assets for employees as a place to relax and collect their thoughts and emotions after a hard day at work, or for patients when they can get out. It helps the healing process and it's for the community as well,” Lithgow said.
As one of the co-chairs of the Green Task Force, Lithgow said they were thrilled to take this offer from Landscape Ontario.
“Companies that are members of Landscape Ontario offered to supply plants and some labour to help beautify our gardens,” Lithgow said.
Beautifying the space for the long term was a key goal of this event.
Michael Lithgow (left) talking to a volunteer.
“The plants we embed are perennials. They'll keep coming back year after year.Not a lot of maintenance is required,” said Lithgow. “They are a very valuable food source for the local pollinators as well.”
David Milne, owner of Quercus Gardens and a member of Landscape Ontario’s Provincial Board of Directors since 2022, attended this event as a volunteer.
Milne estimated 1,000 plants were embedded by the 27 volunteers at the event. People from various organizations and communities engaged in the activities.
“We are losing the connection with nature,” Milne said. “I am so glad to see people coming from different communities, gathering to talk and enjoy the connections with nature again.”
Lorraine Lee, a graduate of Landscape Ontario’s GROW program, learned about this event from an email sent by Landscape Ontario. She decided to invite her friends Maris and Natalie to volunteer together.
“It is awesome,” Lee said. “I get to know more about plants and it's interesting to get planting done with other people as a group event.”
“I felt the connection with nature,” Maris added, “and the chance to accomplish something together with my groupmates.”
It was Maris and Natalie’s first time working in a public garden and they appreciated the expertise on hand as well as the flexibility to use their creativity.
“It's quite relaxing because it does not have very strict guidelines on how we should do it. They just give us very simple instructions and we can plant on our own,” Natalie said.
The Veterans’ Therapeutic Garden is a private visiting garden open for the residents of the K and L Wings of the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre.
Janet Phillips, who has been the horticultural therapist at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre since September 2013, worked in the therapeutic garden and shared insights about how horticulture is beneficial for veterans.
According to Phillips, around 150 people came out from the building and enjoyed this outdoor garden every day before the pandemic occurred.
“The garden is used by four different populations: veterans, chronic care that came over during the pandemic, the transitional community coming from the hospitals, and all the visitors and families,” Phillips explained.
Phillips recalled one of the wives of a palliative care resident: “She walked by me and said, ‘We have to give up our beautiful garden at home because my husband is sick, but when we come out here, I feel like we are home again.
“There are so many different stories about how a garden impacts people, and I don't have to be here for that impact to happen. My job as a horticultural therapist is to keep this place peaceful, safe and interactive.”
VIEW PHOTOS