…or at least they will be if you give them a hand!
GaLTT’s Native Plant Depot at the Commons offers native plants to anyone who wants them, free of charge. Our plant recovery team visits properties that are being cleared, with the permission of the landholder, to rescue plants that would otherwise be destroyed in the process of clearing land and building.
Our goal is to find these plants new homes where they can enhance native habitat. But having stock at the NPD is entirely dependent on people donating, and it is so popular that plants generally go as fast as they come. We’d like to make them available to more people, and that’s where your help comes in.
Pass on our info. Is someone clearing land in your neighbourhood? Ask the landholders or contractors who are working to consider letting our recovery team work with them to rescue plants that would otherwise be destroyed. (Here’s a Native Plant Depot FAQ that you can print and hand out.)
Contact us at programs@galtt.ca if you’re clearing land, and we’ll set something up.
But even if you’re not doing a big project, spring often finds us dealing with volunteers that are popping up where they shouldn’t be. (Why is that tree seedling coming up in the middle of my driveway?) Collect these wayfarers every spring, and drop them off at the Depot—they’ve obviously already started their migrations and just need a bit of help. (You can usually pick up a few empty pots at the Depot to transport them in if you don’t have any of your own.) It’s a bit of work to do it, but you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that something you nurtured (even if unconsciously!) is finding a new home to thrive in while benefiting native habitat and the ecology of our island.