Guild Park's Native Pollinator Garden earned the City of Toronto Garden Award for best community garden in 2024.
The juried awards, which included certificates signed by Mayor Olivia Chow and local Councillor Paul Ainslie, were handed out Oct. 30 at Guild Park's Clark Centre for the Arts. The ceremony recognized gardens from across Toronto, from Downsview to Port Union, for categories ranging from residential to institutional.
For the Guild Park entry, judges were impressed at how a team of volunteers transformed a patch of unused turf into a thriving habitat for pollinators and added another green attraction to the park's beautiful gardens.
Beginning as an uninspiring space sandwiched between a asphalt parking lot and concrete sidewalk (see photo), local community gardeners created a welcoming and well-tended environment full of colour and activity during the growing season.
This garden was an initiative of Friends of Guild Park and the Guildwood Butterflyway Project, supported by the City's Live Green Toronto, the PollinateTO Community Grants Program. Assisting as project trustee was Park People, the charity for Canadian urban parks.
Organizing and overseeing the local garden is Allison Murray of the Guildwood Butterflyway Project along with Friends of Guild Park's Rose Mitchell Spohn and Audrea Porter.
The dedicated efforts to "carve out" the garden and take on the regular weeding and watering was done by an informal group of experienced gardeners and green enthusiasts.
Award officials noted how the Guild Park garden supported flowering species that don't normally survive in such a harsh location. They said it was an indication of how well volunteers designed their garden and how well they maintained this living attraction.
An important feature of Guild Park's Pollinator Garden is the informative sign specially made for the site. Local designer, Keith Ly, created the all-season sign. He got to highlight his work to a group of garden award-winners after the ceremony (see photo).
The value of these city-wide awards and certificates extends beyond the flowers that blossom and fade through the seasons.
As one award-winner explained, "This isn't just about gardening. It's about community."
She recognized how creating and caring for all types of gardens also builds communities. Planting flowers and shrubs is an invitation for people to appreciate and improve their local areas. It's an update to a familar line of poetry: "Good gardens make good neighbours."
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