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Shuswap Climate Action Society
supporting community knowledge and solutions
Lose the Lawn - Rewilding Your Yard
Turn this...
Into this...
The webinar series "Lose the Lawn: Rewilding Your Yard" and resources provided here are aimed at helping homeowners create a drought resistant, eco-friendly and climate resilient landscape.
We thank all our presenters Keli Westgate of Lekker Land Design, Sigrie Kendrick, the Executive Director of the Okanagan Xeriscape Association , Sarah Johnson, a local ecologist, bee expert and founder of the Native Bee Society of BC, and Mikaela Cannon, author of "Foraging as a Way of Life" for their expert assistance putting this project together.
We also thank the City of Salmon Arm for their generous financial support!
The recording of our first "Lose the Lawn" webinar held on October 18, 2023, with Keli Westgate of Lekker Land Design, can be viewed by following the link below.
The recording the second "Lose the Lawn" in our webinar series, held on Feb 21, 2024 featuring Sigrie Kendrick from the Okanagan Xeriscape Association can be viewed by clicking on the link below!
The recording of our third "Lose the Lawn" webinar "Plan Bee for Your Lawn: Tips for Supporting Plants and Pollinators" held on March 20, 2024, with Sarah Johnson, bee ecologist, can be viewed by following the link below.
The recording of our fourth "Lose the Lawn" webinar "Rewilding Your Yard and Your Dinner Plate - Bringing the Wild into Your Yard, Your Diet and Your Heart held on April 2, 2024, with Mikaela Cannon, farmer, and author with extensive knowledge of the uses of native plants.
And.... Congratulations to Larissa Image, the lucky webinar participant who won a signed copy of Mikaela's book "Foraging as a Way of Life: A Year-Round Field Guide to Wild Plants".
Resources to Help the Rewilding Process
As we find more resources we will continue to add them here!
Online Resources
If you are looking for online resources with an extensive plant database of waterwise plants, go to the Okanagan Xeriscape Association (OXA) website. You will also find information about xeriscaping techniques, lists of plant suited to our region, local events, links to other websites and books. You can support OXA's efforts by becoming a member giving you access to special deals at local nurseries, and OXA events.
The magazine Rewilding published a great article on rewilding your yard, including the benefits and sometimes the challenges you might face if municipal bylaws are overly restrictive and regressive. We believe our local governments in the Interior of BC are aligned with efforts to reduce water use, improve urban biodiversity and protect pollinators.
They also provide six tips for rewilding your yard in this article.
The David Suzuki Foundation has lots of information on native plants and how they help our critically important native pollinators, including guides and advice for your specific region in BC.
The BC Farms and Food website offers advice on growing a climate-resilient garden in this article including strategies to improve soil and ecological health.
The Native Bee Society of BC has a great resources page on their website that is specifically identifying native plants that attract BC's bees and are also great for gardeners!
Pollinator Partnership Canada has a great pollinator plant selection tool called Find Your Roots on their website that helps The tool contains lists of native plants that support pollinators from their Ecoregional Planting guide series.
Science Daily has published the results of two studies that found the spiny pollen from plants in the sunflower family Asteraceae, reduces infection of a common bee parasite by 81 - 94% and markedly increases the production of queen bumble bees. Asteraceae includes asters, daisies, and garden ornamentals such as ageratums, chrysanthemums, cosmos, dahlias, marigolds, and zinnias. Target those plants for your yard! You can read the full article here.
BC has over 3,000 native plants including mosses, ferns, grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, trees and more! The Native Plant Society of BC website has lots of resources profiling the importance of our native plants, how to cultivate and preserve our native plants.
There is also a BC Native Plants Facebook page offering detailed scientific and information on the native species common to BC, from their importance to pollinators specifically to their contribution to overall forest diversity.
Resource Books
Resources on Pollinators & Beneficial Insects
Propagation of Interior British Columbia Native Plants from Seeds - by Shelly Hudson and Mike Carlson and published by the BC Ministry of Forests Research Branch, Kalamalka Forest Research Centre 1998.
Native Woody Plant Seed Collection Guide - by S. M. Banerjee, et. al., published by the BC Ministry of Forests, Tree Improvement Branch, 2001.
Guide to Gardening for Pollinators - by Nancy Holmes and Cameron Cartiere, published by Border Free Bees and the University of British Columbia Okanagan, 2019.
Gardening for Pollinators and Beneficial Insects - a brochure compiled by the Thompson Shuswap Master Gardeners with general information on pollinators and lists of both ornamental and native plants, shrubs and trees to attract and help beneficial insects of all kinds.
SFU Pollinator Ecology Lab website - This site provides access to publications of all kinds including everything from scientific papers to information geared for the general public on pollinators.
Bee Identification Guide - This brochure helps all you citizen science nerds identify the bees you may find in the Southern Interior of BC. A great resource to improve our knowledge of the pollinators around us.
"Kiss the Ground" is a great film available on Netflix or see their website for more information on how to access a showing.
Interesting Documentary Films & Videos
"Garbage Warrior" tells the epic story of maverick architect Michael Reynolds, his crew of renegade house builders from New Mexico and their fight to introduce radically different ways of living.
Watch the CWF webinar with Kristen Miskelly, biologist and owner of a native plant nursery and consulting business in Victoria BC, shares rewilding design principles for home gardens.
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