Blogs

LEAF offers over 50 native trees and shrubs through our Backyard Tree Planting Program. Clearly, we love native species! I already interviewed our Residential Planting Programs team to find their favourite species, now I turn to our Community Programs team to learn more about their top picks!

What comes to mind when you think of pruning? For many people, it’s a topiary shrub clipped into an ornamental shape. Though we often think of pruning as an aesthetic practice, it actually serves a much wider purpose. Each pruning cut has the ability to change the growth pattern of a tree forever; making pruning young trees an essential practice in order to maintain health and encourage a strong structure as they mature.

What do string, handy plant species identification tips and a clipboard have in common? These were some of the things Brian Millward, LEAF Stewardship Coordinator, and I needed when we visited future LEAF naturalization planting sites. We were establishing a baseline of species diversity found at each site in order to monitor the impact of LEAF stewardship activities.

Though soft-stemmed flowering plants are common in pollinator gardens, trees and shrubs are just as important! Not only do many caterpillars depend (in part or completely) on the leaves of these plants for food, but the thousands of flowers they produce also feed butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Here are seven trees and shrubs you can plant this fall to create a pollinator-friendly garden.

What is the most valuable part of being a volunteer Garden Steward? We posed this question to the dedicated volunteers that care for our Urban Forest Demonstration Gardens located outside of five TTC subway stations. For 10 years these green spaces have added a little bit of nature to the lives of local residents and commuters. None of this would have been possible without this passionate community of volunteers steadily working behind the scenes!