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January 20th 2007 was a banner day for the Friends of the Gorge project. After months of planning, followed by a winter of uncertain weather – snow, torrential rains, freezing temperatures, road closures - all the stars lined up for a wonderful morning of planting native plants at our demonstration site on Portage Inlet. The achievements that this site represents go beyond the removal of invasive plants and replanting with native species. There was an unprecedented level of cooperation between municipalities (Oak Bay and Saanich), parks and environmental services departments to accomplish all the work that needed doing.
Saanich parks crew and a helpful neighbour cleared the site and removed invasive plants and piles of garden waste that had been dumped on the site. The site was covered with a thick layer of leaf mulch, and left over the summer and fall.
The replanting plan for the site was developed by Friends of the Gorge biologist Kitty Lloyd with valuable input from a neighbour with experience in shoreline restoration.
Logs and large rocks were incorporated as hardscape elements for the site. The logs used were from 100-year-old cottonwoods recently felled along Bowker Creek in Victoria. The Oak Bay Parks Department donated the logs for the site, and were delivered by Saanich trucks in January 2007. A local company, Don Mann Excavating Ltd, donated the rocks for the site, also delivered the week prior to the planting work party.
Trees planted were arbutus (Arbutus menziesii) donated by neighbour Tom Morrison, and shore pine (Pinus contorta var. contorta). Spaces between the shrubs were planted with a variety of native perennials including kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), coastal strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis), lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus) and blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium).
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