Date: Wednesday July 6, 2011, 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Location: North York Civic Centre, Council Chambers, 5100 Yonge St, Toronto
Hosts: LEAF with East Don Parkland Partners and North American Native Plant Society
Cost: Free
Door Prize: LEAF Native Garden Kit (perennials, shrubs and suggested garden designs)
Paul Heydon, engaging biologist and native plant expert, will be our guide on a visual journey through the mysterious forest under story. Get a glimpse of the beautiful and unique life forms that make up this delicate layer of the forest, and walk away with practical ideas about native plants suited to the shadier areas of your own yard. This talk will make you see the forest in a whole new light!
From a young age, Paul Heydon was a natural biologist. Identifying plants in the fields across the road from his parents house turned into a lifelong passion. He graduated from the Forestry program at Sir Sandford Fleming College in 2001, and from the Honours Bachelor of Science program in biology at Trent University in 2006. In 2001, he opened Grow Wild, a native Plant nursery and has recently completed a large species at risk study for Parks Canada about Engelmann's Quillwort in the Muskoka's. He has worked with many organizations such as Friends of the Rouge Watershed, Toronto Region Conservation Authority, Kawartha Conservation and Parks Canada to provide consulting advice, plants, and restoration work.
Join LEAF and Ward 32 Beaches-East York Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon as we learn about the the trees in this neighbourhood. During the tour, led by LEAF's Lauren Brown, we will examine some of the stresses trees face and how to properly care for your own trees. We’ll also learn about the invasive pest, Emerald Ash Borer, and the impact it will have on Toronto’s canopy.
Join LEAF and the Cabbagetown South Residents Association as we explore one of Toronto’s most interesting neighbourhoods. A dense tree canopy blankets this historic neighbourhood, greatly contirbuting to the area's biodiversity. We’ll visit three special backyard gardens where the homeowners will share personal stories about their trees. Don't miss this captivating tour through a neighbourhood where the trees are as old as the architecture.
Alien Invasion! How “Global Gardening” has impacted Toronto’s urban forest. Paul Zammit, Director of Horticulture for the Toronto Botanical Garden and Colleen Cirillo of Toronto and Region Conservation and the Ontario Invasive Plant Council will reveal how many of Toronto’s most common plants actually originate from abroad. While plants are neither inherently “good or bad”, we will discuss the impacts both native and non-native plants have on the urban forest and what that means for birds, bees, other pollinators and wildlife.