Growing A Community Native Plant Arboretum

Macphail Woods created a small native plant arboretum in 1993. Since then the native garden has grown in size and diversity. It now encompasses two acres and is home to over 240 species of native tree, shrub, wildflower and fern. Right from the start it was a criticial part of the nature education that happens at Macphails. The arboretum explores a variety of habitats and their associated plant communities and serves an essential role in our native plant propagation as a living seed bank. Every year home owners, students and visitors to the Island tour this unique space. However with our small staff and balancing the many demands of an environmental charity, the arboretum can always use more attention and work. 

With the financial support of the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation this spring and summer we were able to to undertake an exciting project - Growing a Community Native Plant Arboretum. The goal of this project was to expand and improve the arboretum and wildflower trail by restoring two large native flower beds that become overgrown and by add new plantings to the wildflower trail, still recovering from post tropical storm Fiona. Over three days we hosted 130 children. The children and their teachers spent the day learning, playing and planting. With their help, we weeded two large beds and planted native species including swamp milkweed, ground nut, steeplbush and black ash and added plantings of red oak, hemlock and male fern to our wildflower trail. The project was a wonderful success. Visit Macphail's to see the beautiful labour of many little hands! A huge thank you to TD Friends of the Envrionment Foundation - your support is needed more than ever and a big thanks to the teachers and students who helped make this project such a joy.