Craigie Orchards' Commitment to Green
Craigie Orchards, the 30-year-old condominium community at Mineola Rd. East and Hurontario St. sees the project to encourage the natural growth of native species along its roadside lawn as a logical extension of an environmental policy that stresses the maintenance of a safe and healthy ecosystem. Two years ago, Craigie Orchards eliminated the cosmetic use of herbicides and pesticides, as the Province is proposing to do now, and adopted a policy of naturalization, committing itself to planting only native plants, shrubs and trees on its property.
Now, in keeping with a growing international movement that recognizes the detrimental environmental impact of large, manicured lawns, Craigie Orchards is working with Eugene Furgiuele, Mississauga’s Parks Natural Areas Coordinator, to allow nature to do its work. While some parts of the lawn will remain, including a border along the sidewalk, teams of students from PCSS will soon be working with supervisors from the City and Craigie Orchards to kick-start the naturalization project. They’ll be putting upwards of 200 native plants, shrubs and trees in the ground around the dozens of existing trees on the property, and mulching the new areas to maintain moisture.
Over time, those large beds will develop as natural meadow and forest, providing all the benefits of a wooded area and eliminating the need for fertilizing, watering and mowing that comes with lawn maintenance.
For more information, contact Craigie Orchards resident Bob Marshall, who is coordinating the project, at robertmarshall@rogers.com.
For information on Mississauga's naturalization program:
http://www.mississauga.ca/file/COM/NMNA06.pdf
For info on a private naturalization project in Cambridge, Ont.:
http://wmuma.com/naturalization/index.html