SPEAKERS: Ingrid Janssen with Mark Denee
Tess introduced the three guests. Alison Babin discovered native plant gardening a decade ago, and since retiring, it has turned into a passion. Last year, she found Little Forests Durham and has become passionate about this way of growing native trees to support our ecosystem and the native fauna that depend on it. She tells me, “I cannot fix the world, but I will do what I can to help where I can.”
Mark Denee grew up in Dundas and lived in Niagara for over 25 years until recently moving to Kawartha Lakes. He’s been a professional horticulturist for 25+ years, working for large commercial nurseries/greenhouses in Niagara, more recently for municipalities, and gardening at work and home. He likes to saunter in the woods as per John Muir, photographing native plants and sharing them on social media. Other interests include cooking (lasagna!) and enjoying pints of fine ales and lagers. He is currently the supervisor, Parks Horticulture | City of Oshawa
Ingrid Janssen has been a lifelong student of and advocate for the natural world as well as a seed collector with a special passion for native trees. A master gardener since 2012, she is a Director with Little Forests Durham, a non-profit organization focused on planting Miyawaki mini forests in communities across Durham Region. She lives and gardens in Clarington, Ontario, on the traditional lands of the Mississauga’s of Scugog Island First Nation.
“A natural forest is a community of coexisting, interacting organisms--trees,
shrubs, moss, fungi, bacteria, insects, animals (including humans acting as
equal members of the community)—that rely on one another for food, shelter,
and other ingredients of life.”
Janssen used this quote from Hannah Lewis’ book The Mini-Forest Revolution to introduce us to the work of Little Forests Durham, a non-profit organization run by volunteers who provide the tools and knowledge to people to plant little forests in their communities. Their mission is to plant 30 Little Forests across Durham Region by 2030 using the Miyawaki method. The Japanese botanist Akira Miyamaki realized that using native trees and plants in small, concentrated spaces quickly replenishes areas that suffered from soil degradation. It provides significant benefits over more traditional forestry methods when used in smaller projects and is particularly effective in urban areas. The trees planted this way grow much faster, jump-starting the forest creation process and capturing more carbon. These little forests also improve biodiversity, so they are ideal for creating diverse forest ecosystems quickly.
Since the fall of 2024, they’ve planted Little Forests in Uxbridge (3 areas) and in Heber Down. There is a plan to create a Little Forest in Oshawa as part of the Greehill Park in north Oshawa and Central Park West Lynde in Whitby. Mark Denee stepped in to explain how the Greenhill site was selected. The City has a tree equity plan that evaluates where trees are needed. Greenhill was selected as the first due to deforestation and development that reduced the tree canopy.
Funding for these projects comes from a variety of grants and partnerships. When asked how we could help, Janssen said they need people power to prep the area, plant the trees and shrubs, and maintain the growing forests after planting. This is where Rotarians, friends and family can help. Erin Carter, representing the Oshawa Rotary Club, pledged to be part of this project as a joint venture of both of our clubs. Here are some images from early projects. Rotarian Bob Koski thanked our guests.
President David Mankiewicz closed the meeting at 8:15 PM.