Tour of Champlain Park's Pollinator Gardens and Demonstration Forests

The NCC woodlands along the Ottawa River at Champlain Park have suffered from clearing, the ice storm of 1998, and the arrival of invasive species. In response, volunteers are working to increase native plant biodiversity by planting native trees, shrubs, spring ephemerals, and summer flowering plants in small, compact areas cleared of non-native invasive vegetation. They developed a novel approach to the problem of very thin soil by building mounds using rotting wood and debris, left after the NCC removed dying ash trees and invasive buckthorn. They added soil and planted a variety of young native trees, such as Paper Birch, White Cedar, Sugar Maple, and Black Cherry. In fall, they added leaves around the trees as mulch and insulation. Volunteers also created a pollinator garden, again by building up a layer of soil and debris and protecting the plants with leaf litter.