On the ground Events In cyberspace News from elsewhere The Fletcher Wildlife Garden is a project of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. It is located on 6 ha of land just south of the Arboretum in Ottawa, Canada. Check our Blog often for photos and notes on what's happening at the FWG. And, for a longer-term view, read our Progress reports YOUR OPINION PLEASE Over the next little while, we're going to be adding name tags to all the plants in our Backyard Garden. We'd also like to provide more information about the various areas in the garden and why we chose specific plants. Would you like to see more signs in the garden? Or information on our bulletin board? Take-away plant lists? All ideas welcome!	If you have trouble viewing this page, please click here What's up at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden August 2009 What's up at the FWG? Everything!! We've had so much rain that some plants are gigantic and some of the animals are keeping pace by multiplying prolifically. Be sure to check our blog (link at the left) to keep up with what's happening from week to week. And please join us as a volunteer and be part of what's happening. A list of some of the things we want to get done this year is on our web site - see Jobs for 2009. Backyard Garden crew - Friday mornings, 9 a.m. to about noon. If the backyard is too tame for you, come along anyway and we'll give you a more challenging task. Butterfly Meadow group - Wednesday evenings, 6 p.m. to dark. This volunteer group is expanding the original meadow and transforming the whole area into a paradise for butterflies. The work is time consuming and more hands are always needed. Contact Diane for more information.
On the ground	Turtle raft Diane and Christine built and installed a log raft in the deep part of our Amphibian Pond this spring. In the last month it's become a regular perch for at least one, and sometimes two, painted turtles. Last week, this snapping turtle claimed the platform for a session of sunbathing. New trail guide One of our new volunteers, Tremayne, a talented graphic artist, has been working on a new one-page trail guide with map for us. It's now available in English and French in the brochure boxes near the parking area. Preview [PDF, 2.6 MB] Ravine rehab Last year we received a City of Ottawa Green Partnerships grant to hire a company with the equipment needed to remove some large buckthorn trees from a sensitive area of our garden (see report). This spring we were lucky to have enthusiastic help from a Price WaterhouseCoopers Green Team, who plant the empty area with thickets of cedars. Renate and Tremayne have been watering, mulching, generally coaxing the area back to health.
	Butterfly meadow Under the guidance of Diane Lepage and with the hard work of our Wednesday evening volunteer group, the butterfly meadow is thriving and expanding. Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada helped this spring by roto-tilling another area of the garden to break up the invasive swallowwort plants and prepare the soil for planting. More Bog bed The pond area of our Backyard Garden has always been a problem. The pond itself works well, but the area just outside the plastic liner is quite dry - not at all like a "real" pond. Planting wetland species (like boneset and swamp milkweed) next to the pond looked right, but these plants weren't getting enough water. Solution: Bog Gardens for Damp-Loving Wildlife, an article published by Wildlife Gardener (United Kingdom). Following its instructions, we dug out a bed next to the pond, lined it with plastic liner, then filled it back up with soil. Our intrepid volunteers, Tony Goldsmith, Tony Denton, and Charlie Clifford, also included a hose running from our water supply so that we can flood the bog area during dry spells.
Events	Pollinator workshop Master Gardeners of Ontario are holding a workshop called Pollinators: vital key to garden success on Saturday, 26 September 2009 Algonquin College, Woodroffe Campus Ottawa More information Guided Tour and Tree Talk on the Emerald Ash Borer Saturday, 22 August, 1:30 p.m. Overbrook Community Centre, 33 Quill Street, Ottawa Join the Ottawa Forests and Green Space Advisory Committee and the City’s Forestry Services branch for a presentation on the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and its potential effects on the region’s forest cover. The session will begin with a presentation by City Forester, Jason Pollard. Participants will then be invited to join in a short field tour to identify ash trees and signs of the insect on infested trees. More information OFNC showcase Tuesday, 15 September, 7 p.m. K.W. Neatby Building, Salon B Central Experimental Farm, 960 Carling Avenue Free parking east of the building The September OFNC meeting will give you a chance to see and learn more about what the club does. Committees, such as the FWG, birds, conservation, and education and publicity will set up information tables and long-time club members will be on hand to talk about the activities these committees undertake. Volunteers are always needed. This is a chance to match your skills with an interesting and rewarding OFNC project. More details
In cyberspace	FWG on Facebook The Fletcher Wildlife Garden is now a group on Facebook. If you are an FB fan, please visit us and join the group. NOTE: if this URL doesn't work, please log in as usual, then search for Fletcher Wildlife Garden.
News from elsewhere	Pollinator meadow attracts complaints A couple of weeks ago, we were drawn into a controversy between an old friend and city bylaw officers, who ordered him to mow his yard. Hank Jones, who we knew from the Eastern Ontario Nut Growers, copied us on a letter to the city explaining that he was converting his lawn into a wildflower meadow, citing the FWG's how to sheet, Gardening for Butterflies. The FWG responded with a note of support and an offer of wildflower seedlings, thinking that a meadow of wildflowers might be viewed as more attractive than uncut grass. Several of us have visited Hank and his wife, Vera, over the last few weeks, helping identify plants. Next steps for the Joneses: Enthusiasm is building for the creation of a national pollinator gardeners network. Read more on Hank Jones' web site Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee takes up the cause For its August meeting, OFGAC has invited Hank and Vera to talk about their experience to date and why this kind of garden is important. Will Amos, their legal council, will review the bylaw issues and what other municipalities have done and representatives from both the city's legal and bylaw departments will give their perspectives. OFGAC will then be in a better position to recommend action to city council. The meeting will be on Monday, 24 August, 6:30 pm in the Colonel By Room (second floor) at City Hall. The public is welcome to attend.
	Co-op Voisins community wildlife garden About a year ago, John Gall got in touch with us to ask advice about creating a wildlife garden. He was planning to try to remove the existing sod, then sow wildflower seeds. We provided some tips on how to get rid of residual weed seeds so that the "good" seeds would grow and thrive and also pointed out the problem of finding enough seeds of genuinely native plants. We also offered some of our own surplus plants to give the project a kick start. This spring, John was at our plant sale, buying for a new project. He sent us photos and a report on the original garden.
	Anyone interested in slugs? Swiss slug expert Ulrich Schneppat will be visiting the Bishops Mills Natural History Centre in late September. If there is local interest in learning more about slug taxonomy, life cycles, monitoring, etc., Mr Schneppat can be persuaded to give a workshop. Please contact Aleta Karstad for more information.