ELM REPORT – AUGUST NEWSLETTER June 30, 2022
What a contrast to last spring the planting conditions have been this year. No extreme heat during the
transition phase this year; instead, copious amounts of rain and strong winds pummeled the new plants
this June. However, now that we have seen some sunshine these past days, our plants are starting to
recover very nicely and by the time this issue of the Inside Edgemont drops into your mailbox, the
flowers will be in full colour and glory! While mowing of our green spaces experienced a bit of a rough
start in places, we trust that all of this is under control by now and running smoothly. Hopefully,
Edgemont gets an earlier turn next year in the street sweeping schedule which would give us an
opportunity to address the mowing situation earlier in the Spring too!
Talking about mowing, Edgemont has a couple of challenging hills to mow, such as the steep slope near
the Fire Hall. Rather than fighting this steep hill with the mower, a consideration would be to populate
this area with tall grasses and wildflowers instead. While this will require a change in the land
designation through the city, your feedback through [email protected] regarding this idea
would be very welcome. If successful, the same process may be applied to other steep areas that cannot
be designated for any other use.
On another note, our Elm coordinator and Rick met with city representatives the other day regarding
the Storm Pond Area Park on the East side of Edgebrook Boulevard, across from the wetlands (see the
July newsletter) to discuss ways to enhance this area. It also appears that the sport fields here are no
longer in use and if that is confirmed by the city, they may consider different options to make use of this
recreational area. Next steps are for the city to come up with a plan to address the encroachment and
mowing of the natural areas in this park while weed control will be the responsibility of ELM. Our ELM
coordinator will request assistance from the city to help clean up the tree groves and control an invasion
of weeds in the rose beds near the parking lot. A lot going on here and hopefully, the city will come back
to ELM relatively quickly with plans to spruce up this area.
Talking about weeds, please check the ECA website for an excellent article on dandelions, posted by Rick
a few weeks ago. The article is posted under the ELM/Leaf section:
https://www.edgemont.ab.ca/category/elm-leaf/ and is called “ELM and the Annual Dandelion
Explosion”. It is a very interesting read with respect to dandelions and offers a different perspective on
these pesky weeds. In addition, it features a lot of fun facts about dandelions!
Lastly, now that the plants have been planted in our gardens, here is a reminder that the Spyhill
Cloverdale store is still offering Edgemont residents a discount of 40% off paint and 30% off supplies.
Use discount code 054Edgemont in case you feel up to a bit of fence painting this summer!
Please submit any ELM concerns and suggestions via email at: [email protected]
Kathleen Stewart, Shari Pitka, Rick Wierzbicki