With the full blessing of Council we are gathering together a team of "Keen re-Greeners" in Lions Bay. Our first project will be to restore and later develop further a natural "Native Shade Garden".

You may be asking "What is Re-Greening, and why do it?" It is a term that has come into use in order to highlight the necessity to recognize society's deleterious effects upon the environment, and the need to reverse much of the damage caused by development.

"Re-Greening" is seen as a necessary pursuit for the future integrity of our environment. It is becoming a most fashionable endeavour amongst adults interested in the education of our children. It aims to teach a healthy balance in our understanding of the ecology of our environment, and, for Lions Bay, an appreciation of the restoration of our local natural beauty. Already in place is an area planted many years ago (8 or 10 years ago, on advice from a resident) with Mahonias, Sword Ferns, Snowberries, Salal and other native plants. This area is on the south side of Lions Bay Avenue below Harvey Highway Bridge and the recent positioning of a screen of trees (by the volunteer gardeners group). It extends down the hill as far as the corner of Cloudview Place and is a centrally located site conveniently visible for all of our residents to note.

After clearing out all the invasive non-native brambles, broom, ivy, etc there, we would choose to add a few more indigenous shrubs and low growing plants and label them for the interest and enjoyment of our local residents, children and friends.

Roy Forster, O.C., (whose significant achievement has been that of Curator-Director of Van Dusen Botanical Garden for its first twenty-five years) has been kind enough to offer his advice re this project. He co-authored "The Woodland Garden" with a former colleague - an informative read for all gardeners. We couldn't ask for more.

Louis Peterson and I are working closely together on this project. Louis is full of good ideas, ability, information and kindness. Both of us share a sincere interest in doing what we can to keep our environment as natural as possible, knowing that it can be done with the help of others to produce an aesthetically attractive result. Once established there should be relatively little upkeep for this garden and others like it.

This next year or two will require the most work. If any of you are interested, have a bit of spare time, and are not worried by a few prickles or pulling up ivy etc to hasten the demise of unwanted invasive noxious weeds, you are invited to join us. We can all look forward to begin planting early next year. Please phone Mary at 604-921-7842 or Louis at 604-921-7260, (email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) to arrange times when one or both of us could be free to meet at the site. We have started the project but realize the more help the merrier! The sooner we prepare the site the sooner we can end up with an educational and valuable contribution to Global Environmental Awareness.

In the future, we hope with the support of others to encourage the development of several other sites, where a diversity of suitable native flora can thrive under differing kinds of environmental exposure i.e., mixed sun and shade, full sun exposure, and deep shade. These gardens will demonstrate the differing preferences of selected and labelled native plants for each habitat, and may serve as a catalyst for other like-minded communities in the future.