The Ajax Pickering Hospital Foundation has installed two new signs beside the Indigenous Naturalized Meadow at Ajax Pickering Hospital to tell the story of this space, and how its landscape will continue to grow and bloom. We hope that all passers by are as enthralled by nature at work, as we are!
The plaques read in part:
“So as not to loose this beautiful and naturally-formed space, [the woodlot] has been re-imagined as a Indigenous Naturalized Meadow, created by transforming it into an environment more indicative of the naturally occurring indigenous landscape of the region. Naturalization includes deliberately reintroducing native species to a site in order to improve the natural environment.
Working with an Indigenous designer & landscaper and great community volunteers, the Meadow has been planted with thousands of seeds & plants, including replanting the trilliums collected by volunteers and nurtured off site until they could be returned.
Seeds collected from the Meadow’s plants are harvested and added to a “seed library”, meaning that collected seeds can be shared with other meadows & gardens throughout the province who want to create or expand their own indigenous landscapes.
Only a year after its creation, this space was recognized as a “Healing Forest” – out of the 16 named, this space was the only one in Canada located on the grounds of a hospital. The Healing Forest project, supported by the David Suzuki Foundation, supports reconciliation-inspired green spaces that are part of a national initiative to honour residential school victims, survivors, their families and murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls.
As well as including rare species and some plants with medicinal value, the seeds & plants included in this Meadow are
- Predominantly Native species
- Have a range of bloom times to ensure nectar source throughout the season for pollinators
- Have winter features (e.g. tall grasses and ornamental seed heads on flowers)”
Special thanks to donors to this project: Ontario Power Generation, TD Canada’s Friends of the Environment Foundation Grant, the David Suzuki Foundation and the National Healing Forests.
