Looking for help on making a naturalized, sustainable garden? We recommend the following sites and organizations.
Don’t forget to check out the Monarch Awards garden scoring rubric. Each of these links opens in a new tab. View the rubric as a web page or as a PDF.
General Info
- Monarch Award Gardening At-A-Glance (Infographic)
- In the Zone Garden–register and track your native-plant garden online. Help the Carolinian Canada Network measure the growth of habitat in Ontario https://inthezonegardens.ca/
- “Becoming an Ecological Gardener” article by Kim Eierman in Connecticut Gardener magazine. Readable and comprehensive. View or download pdf: Becoming An Ecological Gardener
- Credit Valley Conservation – Your Green Yard – https://cvc.ca/your-land-water/green-cities/your-green-yard/
- Hamilton Conservation Authority – Natural Areas as Neighbours (opens PDF in new tab) http://conservationhamilton.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/04/Natural-Areas-Brochure_update.pdf
- Hamilton Conservation Authority – Escarpment Living (opens PDF in new tab) http://conservationhamilton.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2015/11/Website-Escarpment-Living.pdf
- Hamilton Conservation Authority – The Downstream View (opens PDF in new tab) http://conservationhamilton.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/05/2018-Spring-The-Downstream-View-Newsletter.pdf
- Hamilton Naturalists’ Club – What’s Alive http://hamiltonnature.org/whats-alive/
- Hamilton Pollinator Paradise Project (the toolkit is a top-notch resource) https://www.hamiltonpollinatorparadise.org/
- Doug Tallamy’s site. This is a must-read. http://www.bringingnaturehome.net/
Soil
- Landscape for Life course: Soil https://landscapeforife.org/soil
- Soil food web info on USDA site: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/soils/health/biology/
- Managing organic soil / Canadian Organic Growers https://www.cog.ca/home/about-organics/what-is-organic/
Water
- Order a rain barrel
- Water Use: Landscape For Life
- Precipitation Trends in Ontario / climate change
- City of Hamilton Info for Downspout Disconnection (opens pdf)
Plants
- Plant list from Society for Ecological Restoration Ontario: http://chapter.ser.org/ontario/files/2012/08/SERO-6th-Ed.-Growers-List-Only.pdf
- Native Plant list for garden planning (from April 17 seminar- Hamilton)
- Pollination Guelph — comprehensive resource pages
- North American Native Plants Society Plant Database
- Can-Plant native plant database (formerly evergreen.ca) https://can-plant.ca/
- City of Guelph list of Native and Drought-Tolerant Plants
- Ontario Wildflowers
- Ontario Invasive Plant Council “Grow me Instead” Beautiful Non-Invasive Plants for your Garden
- Winter Sowing resource page (on this site) http://monarchawardshamilton.org/winter-sowing-resources/
- Oldham’s List of the Vascular Plants of the Carolinian Region
- Credit Valley Conservations Priority List of Invasive Plants (slightly more current than Society for Ecological Restoration’s list but essentially the same) This is an other must-read item for Monarch Award applicants CVC List of Priority Invasives
Materials and Hardscaping
- Landscape for Life: Materials
- Articles from the Ecological Landscape Alliance
Cultural Practices
- Pollinator Gardens (Seeds of Diversity)
- Article “Give Your Garden Time, Not Money”
- Pollinator Partnership (links)