The move to naturalize medians and boulevards in the City of Selkirk continues, and though the appearance of some of the spaces being transitioned might look incomplete, they are in reality, progressing as anticipated. When fully established, these natural improvements will reduce pollution in the Red River and Lake Winnipeg, reduce costs, and provide citizens with many other health and environmental benefits.
Mihali Schindle, the city’s Manager of Climate Action & Environmental Services, says naturalization projects look different than planting typical grasses and flowers and it takes more time for aesthetically pleasing and environmentally superior results to emerge.
“This project utilizes modern landscape naturalization methods that differ from the instant fruition offered by traditional landscaping designs and methods,” Schindle said.
“However, the long-term benefits of this project will help transform Selkirk into a regional hub for urban nature and sustainable landscapes.”
Diverse mix of native grasses, shrubs and trees to provide numerous environmental benefits
The city’s vision for medians and boulevards is to create a natural urban landscape that improves access to nature for residents and improves the environmental function of public lands all while significantly reducing the amount of staff time that was once required to maintain these areas.
Schindle says the new plantings, located on Main Street boulevards and medians, will include a diverse mix of native grasses, shrubs, and trees that provide numerous environmental benefits, while enhancing biodiversity and improving landscape beautification.
The new areas feature seeding and planting and will take several years to become fully established. Right now, erosion control blankets, which have an appearance of straw-like mats, are being used to help the process along.
“Trees and shrubs have been planted throughout the project areas with native grasses seeded below erosion control blankets. The erosion control blankets help improve soil moisture, seed germination, and soil structure during the initial stages of growth and will decompose over time,” Schindle said.
“All of the planting of trees, flowering shrubs, and seeding of native grasses will be completed before the end of summer and as with any project of this size, some replanting may take place as needed. Grass seedlings should be visible within the next two months and will take approximately 2-3 years to reach their full height.”
Native revegetation biologists and landscape architects overseeing the project
The city is working with native revegetation biologists and landscape architects to oversee the implementation and monitoring of planting operations, which will ensure adequate maintenance and germination of the plants and seeds.
Rain gardens and bioswales are being used to further advance stormwater management within the city.
“These are natural infrastructure systems that are designed to collect and filter stormwater runoff from streets and impermeable surfaces, while creating an ecosystem that supports plants that can tolerate high soil moisture. The plants in these systems also absorb contaminants and heavy metals in stormwater, preventing them from entering the Red River and eventually Lake Winnipeg,” Schindle said.
“Some reseeding may be required next year to reach the desired seedling density.”
Environmental, health and staffing benefits
Chris Penner, a private consultant and native plant biologist, says the switch to native plants has many benefits and is becoming a more popular choice for medians and boulevards and other greenspaces.
“For the last 25 years, native prairie plant species have become popular with the public, with developers and with municipal officials,” Penner said.
“This is partly due to the introduction of more effective planting procedures but also because native plants can solve problems that other conventional plantings cannot address including road salt. In addition to street-side beautification, rain garden plants and soil provide a degree of water run-off filtration which is good for downstream receiving waters, particularly Lake Winnipeg.”
Schindle says the plantings provide even more environmental benefits.
“The benefits of this planting project extend beyond the typical landscape beautification by sequestering carbon through numerous trees, shrubs, and deep-rooted native grasses and reducing the city’s corporate GHG emissions through reduced mowing operations,” he said.
“A low-mow turfgrass fescue mix has been seeded on the boulevard strips on Main Street south of Queen Avenue and will only require mowing every 2-3 weeks once established.”
“The plants installed throughout the project include a mixture of native grass species and native and non-native trees and shrubs that can tolerate a changing climate and harsh growing conditions”
Mihali Schindle, Manager of Climate Action & Environmental Services
Studies in urban naturalization have also identified that people living near and having access to more natural spaces and trees, have better health outcomes, including improved mental and physical well-being.
Selkirk’s Community Strategic Plan calls for the city to make environmental stewardship a priority and to sustain the quality of life for future generations. The city also has a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy that makes integrating climate change adaptation into day-to-day city operations mandatory. The naturalized areas align with both documents.
“The plants installed throughout the project include a mixture of native grass species and native and non-native trees and shrubs that can tolerate a changing climate and harsh growing conditions,” Schindle said.
“Once all the plants have been established for approximately two years, the city may continue to add flowering shrubs and perennials to the naturalized areas to expand beautification, colour and biodiversity further.”
Improving the environmental performance of our built environment
For Penner, the move to native plants is a wise return to the past that couldn’t come at a better time.
“In a time when native species and global natural biodiversity is threatened due to habitat loss and environmental degradation, we are finding uses for the plants of our shared natural history right here in the city to help us improve the environmental performance of our built environment,” Penner said.
“In a sense, we are finding that what is old, is new again.”
