How Does Your Garden Grow?
Gardening is an increasingly popular pastime for Canadians. Statistics Canada reports that since 2001, sales of lawn and garden products have increased by about 10 percent each year. Anyone who has battled the crowds at their local garden centre on a sunny spring morning has probably figured this out for themselves.
Demographics, which are responsible for the ebb and flow of so many consumer trends, are at work here as well; market researchers predict that gardening will continue to grow in popularity as it is a good fit with the interests of an aging population. But other factors are also fueling this trend, including an increased interest in growing our own food and a desire to connect with the natural world.
I know a pastime is hot when I start noticing the clever ways people come up with to capitalize on it. People have been hiring landscape designers and gardeners for years, but did you know that you can now hire a garden coach?
Interested in learning more about the local gardening scene? Here are a few websites you might want to check out:
The Toronto Botanical Garden educates and inspires local gardeners. It has themed demonstration gardens, hosts lectures and workshops, and connects people with master gardeners who can answer their questions.
http://www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/
The Toronto Community Garden Network encourages a healthy community gardening movement in Toronto. There is a list of community gardens, information about events, workshops and courses and links to helpful gardening information.
Sharing Backyards Toronto encourages urban gardening by connecting prospective gardeners with people who have land to share:
http://sharingbackyards.wordpress.com/
Finally, here are some books that might interest you. These titles and many more books about gardening are available in the Science & Technology Department on the 5th Floor of the North York Central Library:
2 thoughts on “How Does Your Garden Grow?”
Keeping it within a kilometer of the branch, there is the Parkview Neighbourhood Garden, a few blocks to the north on the otherside of Yonge at Doris and Parkview, and Steven Biggs is an excellent GardenCoach available @ http://www.gardencoacheschat.com/ or a couple of streets away too.
Another great Toronto resource is “Not Far from the Tree” who organize and help make use of all the fruit trees people have in their yards but don’t have the time/know-how to harvest properly: http://www.notfarfromthetree.org/
Thanks for your comments, Chris. I had never heard of garden coaches until recently, but I’m learning about how they fit into the gardening scene. Steve sounds like a great local resource.
I’ve been following Not Far From the Tree since they got started a few years ago. This organization does fantastic work which benefits the whole community. Thanks for mentioning them.