Jennifer Leat and Tim Taylor: Pollinator Roadsides – Habitat Creation along our Roads

Name: Jennifer Leat and Tim Taylor: Pollinator Roadsides – Habitat Creation along our Roads
Start: 2025-11-18T19:30:00-05:00
Location: Water Street Church, 287 Water St, Guelph ON

Schedule

Tue, 18 Nov, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Water Street Church, 287 Water St, Guelph ON | Guelph, ON

Join Nature Guelph Wildflower Society on Tuesday November 18 for a presentation by Jennifer Leat and Tim Taylor about Waterloo Region Nature's Pollinator Roadsides project.
This presentation will describe the inception and purpose of Pollinator Roadsides, planning and methods for their two pilot plantings (the first in Spring 2024 and the second in Fall 2025), the results and challenges, and their future plans.
Pollinator Roadsides is a community based project of Waterloo Region Nature. The aim is to replace current turf grass with pollinator-friendly native perennials to beautify the roadsides and recreate habitat for pollinators and other wildlife in the Region of Waterloo. The long-term goal is that planting perennials instead of turf grass will become the usual management practice in the maintenance of roadsides and it is hoped that this venture will become an example of what can be achieved across the province.
Dr. Jennifer Leat grew up in the UK and is a retired professor of Optometry at the University of Waterloo. Since retiring she has become an avid proponent of gardening for birds and insects, especially planting native species of plants. She lives in Kitchener, where she has a large garden, including a meadow devoted to native plants. She initiated the Pollinator Roadsides project in November 2022 and is its main project co-ordinator. She is an avid photographer and birder, and uses her photography to promote the use of native plants. She is a member of Waterloo Region Nature, Waterloo Gardeners and two local camera clubs.
Tim Taylor has been gardening in Waterloo since 1995. His interest in native plants grew out of a struggling lawn. He was inspired by Dr. Doug Tallamy on creating complete food webs. Since then, Tim designed and installed a community pollinator garden in his neighbourhood, leads the gardening team at his church, and helps to maintain a Waterloo Gardeners Garden in Waterloo. He is one of the early members of Pollinator Roadsides, and has been working with Jennifer Leat since before the group even had a name. And his challenging lawn? It has been converted to a prosperous and beautiful pollinator garden.

Photo: Judy Brisson
COVID PROTOCOLS
Please do not attend if you are experiencing any symptoms of COVID.
ABOUT NATURE GUELPH
Nature Guelph is an active community of nature lovers connecting people with nature and inspiring them to celebrate and protect it. We host monthly Speaker Series presentations, offer interest-specific programs for wildflower and bird lovers, lead outdoor events that celebrate our natural spaces, and offer educational and inspiring youth programs. We also partner with other local, like-minded organizations on a number of local conservation, citizen science and advocacy initiatives.
THIS EVENT IS FREE BUT DONATIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME.
Donations can be made in person, on our website, through Canada Helps, or by mailing a cheque to: Nature Guelph, P.O. Box 1401, Guelph, Ontario N1H 6N8
Suggested donation of $5 for non-members. Charitable receipts available for donations over $10. If you enjoy our events and programs, consider buying an annual membership. http://www.natureguelph.ca/membership/