Site Visits, Designs and Plans for Shores and Vibrant Gardens
Custom designs, full plans and reports, and planting services. We deliver the Natural Edge program, providing expert consultation and plantings too!
Design Your Own Shoreland Garden Workshops
Join seasoned experts with over 20 years’ experience in naturalizing, restoring, and designing shoreland gardens across Ontario. Learn about plants, design aspects, lighting effects. Choose colours, heights, areas and more. Landowners can also take part in case studies here, to learn from other examples.
Topics covered in the workshops include:
- Permits
- Native plants
- Increasing biodiversity and functions (pollinators, birds, fish habitat improvement etc.)
- Invasive species
- Erosion control*
- Nuisance goose control
- Limiting nutrient runoff
- Erosion considerations
- Plant species preferences
- Design aesthetics
- Step-by-step design
These workshops may be in person within a venue and classroom setting, or provided on Zoom. Have pictures of your shore ready with a focus on the riparian edge/shoreline.
*Please note that erosion control may be discussed at sessions, but erosion control designs will not be developed in these workshops. Instead they will require onsite site visits
Our Shoreland Workshops Make News!
Read about them in the Muskoka and Haliburton Life Magazine: Shoreland Garden Editorial
Even local groups come to us for advice!
Abbey Gardens restoration ecology staff have attended our workshop in Haliburton and took away lessons in deterring geese, soil science and design expertise for public and private sites. Our staff/contractors have designed keystone shoreland gardens and goose deterrent projects for: Halls/Hawk Lake park in Algonquin Highlands; Rivera Park in Lindsay; Big Bald Lake Association; for Mr. Paul McIinnis' property, president of the Coalition of Haliburton Property Owners Associations (pictures below) frequently showcased publicly as a demonstration site; at Head Lake in Dysart et al to deter geese- with success!- and for Haliburton Lake Association's Public Beach; and many private contractors too...
"I was expecting a dry presentation, cold hard facts, but you added such colour, your enthusiasm was evident, your energy palpable. I thoroughly enjoyed myself! And I learned stuff!!!!" ~ Sharon Petrini, Haliburton County
"Thank you Leora for Saturday's workshop. My husband and I both found it informative. We came away with some great ideas on how we can both beautify and naturalize our shoreland property."
"If you have not heard enough praise for the Friday Workshop I will add it was amazing, & I think I learned a lot. It seems my long held convictions of 58 years are being challenged everywhere. The more I learn the more I know I do not know very much!" ~Terry Goodwin, Haliburton
More about shorelands, birds, and pollinators in our blogs!
