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In March 2009, the District of Saanich received a grant of $31,000 from the Ministry of Community and Rural Development through the Trees for Tomorrow and BC150 Grove programs to purchase 150 native trees and more than 1900 native shrubs to plant as demonstration forests in Baxter Park.
Saanich Parks invites you as a neighbour to Baxter Park to take part in this educational project. We are looking for volunteers of all ages to participate in the planning, design, preparation, planting and maintenance of this community project.
As a community, we will plant four large beds with native shrubs and trees representing four native plant community types found in our region. One of these beds is adjacent to a stormwater retention waterway and will be a demonstration riparian shrub habitat and will include removal of invasive non-native plants.
By partnering with the schools, teachers, parents, community and the Victoria Natural History Society, we will be able to create more than demonstration woodlands — we will be creating an outdoor classroom. With it, we plan to teach the importance of habitat connectivity by creating a forested area for wildlife. This project will also enhance the recreational value of Baxter Park and provide a much needed buffer to highway noise.
Partnerships have been formed with the teachers from the three schools bordering Baxter Park to participate in the project. Students will learn how to plant trees and shrubs, about the ecosystems represented in each bed, and how to create habitat that is attractive to wildlife and people. A component of the outdoor classroom will be a play area for children that incorporates features found in nature.
By creating an outdoor classroom we are providing teachers with an opportunity to incorporate Baxter Park into their curriculum. The Victoria Natural History Society will offer guided field trips for successive new classes. Each new cohort of students will contribute to on-going maintenance of the park and will carry out long-term monitoring of the areas their school planted.
We are entering the community engagement phase of the project leading up to planting the trees and shrubs on Tree Appreciation Day on November 8, 2009.
Baxter Park - Landscape Plan
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