ELM REPORT – AUGUST 2024
Who would have thought that we would be facing water restrictions after we just finished planting the annuals in our community planters and had begun populating the flower beds! Hopefully, we will receive some positive water news on Canada Day. Because of these water restrictions during most of the month of June, we decided to keep the remaining flowers safely in the greenhouse. However, Foothills resumed planting of the annuals in the flower beds on June 25th, given that we secured access to non-potable water in Calgary. Prior to that, Foothills was able to haul water from non-affected sources out of town, as was communicated to the community right away on the ECA website and on our Social Media Platforms. For future reference, the ELM team makes every effort to publish urgent ELM related updates on the ECA website and social media as soon as feasible. Unfortunately, there is at least one month delay in communicating through the hard copy newsletter. Regardless, hopefully the final stages of the water restrictions will soon be history, allowing us to focus on other ELM related matters.
You may have noticed that some of the vines in the planters were not thriving and Foothills has started replacing them with healthier plants. Another project: the lilacs in the community have nearly finished flowering at this time and we are planning to do some pruning and reshaping of several of the lilacs in the community as soon as possible.
Our ELM coordinator met with the city ecologist in June to review the pilot naturalization area near the wooden steps that are leading up to the Edgemont Community Centre. As mentioned previously, planting of native shrubs, plants and grasses is scheduled for September/October while necessary clearing of weeds from this pilot area will be ongoing throughout the summer. Currently, July 9th and July 25th from 9 am – 12 pm are designated weed pulling days under guidance of city representatives. The city will provide tools, gloves, safety vests and haul away the weeds. Please contact us at [email protected] as soon as possible if you can help with this rewarding project. This assumes you are able to check our website for updates, given that the printed newsletter will arrive in your mailbox too late for the July weed pulling dates. However, there may be additional weed pulling dates in August and early September!
Although not considered weeds anymore, some residents have expressed concerns about the abundance of dandelions adorning our green spaces. Shari Pitka, our ELM coordinator, has embraced these early flowers and has written a great article to help us see dandelions in a more positive light. Shari was really on a roll and also wrote an article on Creeping Bell Flowers; these plants are actually considered noxious weeds and they tend to take over your garden if you don’t bring them under control. Both articles are available on the ECA website.
Have a great summer and please contact us at [email protected] with any concerns or questions.
Kathleen Stewart, Rick Wierzbicki, Shari Pitka