If you are thinking of making your garden more wildlife-friendly, here is a full list of species planted along the edges of the playing fields. These links give you information on forest tress in Ontario that can be used in wildlife gardens 

These guides may prove useful:

The best ways to attract birds to your garden

The Native Plant Resource Guide

Be sure to get your plants from nurseries, garden clubs or friends. Don’t take them from the wild. That way you’ll be adding to nature, not destroying it!

In late summer colourful Asters and Goldenrods start to bloom and continue until there is a hard frost. They get a “bad rap” as having pollen that causes allergies, especially the golden rods. However, this is undeserved as their pollen in relatively large and heavy and does not travel on the wind. The real culprit is often ragweed, an inconspicuous plant that blooms in the same season and that is pollinated by the wind: It produces a lot of light pollen.

Find out more about golden rod, ragweed and allergies.

You will find Frost Grapes (Vitis vulpina) scrambling up the fence at the entrance to the Westmount Road Sports Park. Before you rush to fill a basket with these attractive fruits be warned! They don’t taste good, and they make truly horrible wine. They are however, an important resource for winter wild birds and, if you are a wine lover, you should be thankful to a closely-related native North American grape, the Labrusca (Vitis labrusca).

In the 19th century a North American aphid insect disease, Phylloxera, invaded French vineyards. Phylloxera devastated the industry. The solution was to graft fine wine vines onto Labrusca root-stocks.

So don’t discount wild plants, as many of them have a use!

Read more about the Phylloxera crisis.

If you are the hardy type that enjoys winter walks, consider this: Snow is not just snow!

There are many types of snow, as you will appreciate if you walk on it often.

New snow still has the original ice crystal forms.

Névé is granular and has been partially melted, refrozen and compacted.

Old snow indicates deposited snow whose transformation is so far advanced that the original form of the new snow crystals can no longer be recognized.

Powder snow is dry new snow, which is composed of loose, fresh ice crystals and often forms at lower temperatures.

Learn more about snow types