Submitted by Yvonne Sabraw on behalf of the Grounds Committee
The Grounds Committee has met monthly by Zoom over the winter, but we will be back to physically-distanced meetings in the playground over the summer. The next meeting is Monday, May 17th, 6:00 -7:30 pm. Anyone is welcome to attend. And don’t forget we can be reached at shcgrounds@shaw.ca anytime!
The big items this month:
1. PLAYGROUND inspections will be happening monthly. Regular inspections are a legal requirement, and we paid for a professional inspection in the fall, but we will do this ourselves on a regular basis now. If you have any concerns about the state of the playground, please let us know. T
2. VERTICAL GARDENING: We applied for a CHF Greener Co-ops Micro-grant to do a pallet vertical gardening project and rain barrel installation. At the moment we are waiting to hear if we got the grant, however we would still like to do the vertical gardening project on a small scale even if we don’t get the grant. We plan to do a few pallets one weekend in May. If you would like to be part of this, please email us and we will be in touch.
3. MULCHING! Mark your calendars for the weekend of June 5th/6th. A few members of our committee attended City of Calgary education sessions on pruning, pest management, and general care of trees and they reinforced how important mulch is for the health of our trees. Spreading mulch is a big job, so we will need involvement of many co-op members. Community work projects may look different this summer depending on physically distancing rules, possibly having members sign up for a specific time/area to work during the weekend.
4. COTONEASTER replacement: We did not ask the membership for a budget for wholesale removal and replacement of diseased cotoneasters for this year. But we have budgeted for 10 individual units to replace their hedges if they would like to. This will involve member digging out the existing shrubs themselves (we have a resident expert in Sarah Reimer who took on this project in her yard last year and can share her experience!). You can then choose from a list of approved shrubs that we have created as replacement options. At this time, we are favouring berry-producing bushes and some hardy flowering species. We also want to ensure that members are aware that infected branches must not be put in the compost, they must be disposed of sealed in a plastic bag, in the black garbage bin.
5. WASPS: Fake wasps nests (see you tube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjNRZGB_vfQ ) Though it is controversial whether this works or not, some people swear by it and the cost is minimal compared to the potential benefit. The idea is that wasps will not build their nest in an area where they believe other nests already exist. They apparently can be fooled by brown paper bags that are scrunched into the shape of a wasps nest and hung in an area where wasps would typically build. Under our decks, under balconies, and under the balcony roofs are areas to put these fake nests. Perhaps we can do a mini-experiment this summer and see if wasps do avoid the places where there are fake nests!
6. MUSHROOMS: SHC Member Mia Rushton has taken a course on growing edible mushrooms, and we are excited about piloting a mushroom growing project this year. We will let members know what areas of our common space will be dedicated to this project.
7. SPRING DUMPSTER: We plan to have the large dumpster on site the week of May 17-24th. An announcement will go out once the exact date is confirmed. The large dumpster is meant for items that are too big to fit in our normal garbage bins: broken household items in particular.
Lastly, if you have a concern with any trees that need attention or pruning, please send an email letting us know so we can add it to the schedule this year.