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Restoration Projects
Restoration Projects
Kanata North Pollinator Patch
Kanata North Pollinator Patch
Before the Kanata North Pollinator Patch became a garden, it was full of non-native, ecologically harmful, invasive plants.
Summer 2023
Before the Kanata North Pollinator Patch became a garden, it was full of non-native, ecologically harmful, invasive plants.
Summer 2023
Late summer 2024 photo: Nina Foster-MacLaren
At 1,131 sq. ft. the Kanata North Pollinator Patch is hard to capture in a single image. It faces stiff competition from the long-standing perennial invasive plants surrounding it. However, it is growing stronger and becoming more vibrant with each passing year.
A successful pollinator garden must provide: pollen-rich flowers and nectar for food, nesting sites, butterfly host plants to feed their caterpillars, and a variety of flowers of different shapes and sizes with continuous blooms from April to October.
The patch contains all of the above pollinator habitat requirements through 42 native plant species including:
Anise Hyssop, Agastache foeniculum
Black Chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa
Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta
Blue Vervain, Verbena hastata
Butterfly Milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa
Canada Anemone, Anemone canadensis
Canada Columbine, Aquilegia canadensis
Canada Milk Vetch, Astragalus canadensis
Common Blue Violet, Viola sororia
Cylindric Blazing Star, Liatris cylindracea
Early Goldenrod, Solidago juncea
Early Sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides
Fireweed, Epilobium angustifolium
Golden Alexander, Zizea aurea
Gray Goldenrod, Solidago nemoralis
Hairy Beardtongue, Penstemon hirsutus
Lanceleaf Coreopsis, Coreopsis lanceolata
Little Bluestem grass, Schizachyrium scoparium
New England Aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
Nodding Onion, Allium cernuum
Obedient Plant, Physostegia virginiana
Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea
Philadelphia Fleabane, Erigeron philadelphicus
Prairie Dropseed grass, Sporobolus heterolepis
Prairie Smoke, Geum triflorum
Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea
Purple Prairie Clover, Dalea purpurea
Showy Tick-trefoil, Desmodium canadense
Shrubby St. John’s Wort, Hypericum prolificum
Side-oats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula
Sky Blue Aster, Aster azureus
Smooth Blue Aster, Symphyotrichum laeve
Smooth Rose, Rosa blanda
Stiff Goldenrod, Solidago rigida
Stout Goldenrod, Solidago squarrosa
Sundial Lupine, Lupinus perennis
Tall (Prairie) Cinquefoil, Drymocallis arguta
Upland White Goldenrod, Solidago ptarmicoides
Virginia Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum virginianum
Wild Bergamot, Monarda fistulosa
Wild Strawberry, Fragaria virginiana
Yellow Coneflower, Ratibida pinnata
Cyclist riding by the KNPP
photo: Andres Galeano
July 2025
Viceroy on Purple Coneflower
photo: Andres Galeano
July 2025
Bumblebee on Canada Goldenrod
photo: Kristen Montuno
August 2025
Bumblebee on Yellow Coneflower
photo: Kulpreet Badial
August 2025
Urban Mini-Meadow
Urban Mini-Meadow
Our latest and largest restoration project will be ongoing for some time. We are currently removing non-native, ecologically harmful plants, and using arborist wood chips to help smother and prevent them from regrowing. This process also allows us to help preserve and protect native plants that were once struggling to survive amongst the invasives. Each year we will add thousands of native plant seedlings that will eventually restore ecological balance and regenerate biodiversity.
Summer 2024 -
Native Common Milkweed and New England Asters were struggling to survive amongst multiple non-native invasive plant species.
Late Summer 2024 -
After removal of a number of invasives and adding arborist chips to help keep them at bay, the native plants are making a strong comeback.
22-Sept-24
New England Asters and Common Milkweed flourishing after non-native invasives had been removed.
22-Sept-24
View of KN Pollinator Patch and Mini-Meadow from the main path.
August 2025 - Mini-Meadow after some much needed rain
photo: Kulpreet Badial
Monarch on Common Milkweed
photo: James Kearnan
Wasp on Early Sunflower
photo: Anik Faisal
Kanata North Community Garden - Friendship Pollinator Patch
Kanata North Community Garden - Friendship Pollinator Patch
Summer 2023
Located at the entrance to the Kanata North Community Garden ~ Before we created a small pollinator patch, the area was overrun with invasive plants.
Summer 2025
At approximately 400 square feet, this small garden contains 21 species of Ontario native plants that support a variety of pollinators. The community food garden then benefits from the pollination services provided by our local wild bees.
New England Asters 2024
Grey-headed Coneflower, Early Sunflower & Purple Coneflower 2024
Future Project - Urban Mini-Meadow 2
Future Project - Urban Mini-Meadow 2
Once our first mini-meadow project is complete, we'll continue on with the sequel, just south of the Kanata North Pollinator Patch. Our Lead Scyther has already started clearing some of the ecologically harmful non-native plants.
June 2025 - look to the left of our equipment, you can see what the area looked like
July 2025 - our Lead Scyther can be seen in the background of a newly scythed section
Visit our projects located at 1298 Klondike Road in the Kanata North Hydro Corridor, and learn more about them through the Ottawa Stewardship Council's Environmental Stewardship Tour
Check out stops 3, 4, and 5 on the self-guided tour.
🌱 There’s a neat phrase to describe the progression of a native planting from seed:
Sleep, Creep, Leap.
SLEEP: The first year, perennial native seeds germinate, but primarily channel energy down into their root structures. Top growth is minimal; the planting seems to be “asleep.”
CREEP: Year two brings more foliage growth, but it may appear a bit juvenile or gangly; this is the slow, “creeping” development.
LEAP: The third year, native perennials “leap” into action and show their true potential, with sturdy foliage and eventual flowers.
credit: Prairie Moon Nursery (a great resource for detailed native plant information)
Volunteers in Action
Volunteers in Action
Wrapping up after removing invasive plants for the KNCG Friendship garden expansion.
Sometimes it takes an older person with a good shovel to get those invasive plant roots out.
Taking care of the small details.
No, aliens haven't landed.😁 Volunteer donned in personal protective equipment.
Crew removing Wild Parsnip
It's fun to work with volunteers who maintain their sense of humour, even when hot and uncomfortable.
Checking equipment before Wild Parsnip removal
Dog-strangling Vine removal South March Highlands Conservation Forest
Bee in the know fun facts:
*Female bees sting, but only in self-defence or in defence of their hives.
*Male bees have no stingers.
*Most species of bees are solitary and never aggressively defend a home space.
*Most bee stings come from honey bees.
*Foraging bees are passive and not aggressive. They’re focused on gathering as much nectar and pollen as they can.
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