environmental initiatives

Responsibility

Loretto Maryholme is committed to listening to the land we enjoy. It teaches us a great deal and not only about itself. Our land on this hill overlooking Lake Simcoe is partly wooded, and partly grasslands behind a long natural shoreline. We manage the property without the use of pesticides. We reuse materials wherever possible; a walk in the woods will show you some of the reuse of trees. Our guiding principle is to make the land as natural as possible.

There is a sacredness to this land. The energy is good here and we bask in it. In 2001, as a religious community, we accepted the challenge from one of our own members to try to convert our very special summer home to a spirituality center with an emphasis on creation spirituality. For those of us who are concerned about our beloved planet, it meant putting our beliefs into action to show respect for the land and begin renewing it. For years it had nourished us and our visitors; it was time to begin to give back and to help it to heal.

One of our first projects was to find the center of energy and in that space, in a clearing in the forest, with lots of volunteers, we now have an amazing labyrinth. Newly constructed trails take retreatants and visitors alike to this ancient and healing spiritual experience. As our first environmental action, the labyrinth set the pace for future methods of working. We share our dreams for our sacred space with our local residents; invite them to participate in the renewing of this piece of mother earth and to enlarge our visions. We are learning from each other, using one another's gifts, deepening our sense of what is sacred and growing a wonderful extended community of friends. All this is happening in a place that for many years allowed no visitors.

Care of this Sacred Space - grounds

We are nourishing the fields and gardens with our own compost. Part of the very large field is being restored to an oak savannah and another section has a wildflower area to enjoy. We are using natural material like shredded wood from our fallen trees to manage the out of place growth. The flowering shrubs are being pruned to encourage natural growth. These shrubs are over 60 years old. Our forest is undergoing reconstruction with the aid of a management plan by a forester who will help us to have a healthy diversified woodlot when, with all the help we can get, we eliminate much of the invasive undergrowth and shrubs so new trees will be able to thrive. Gradually we are adding native plants to the woods. We are getting to know the topography of this land and befriend the trees and flowers. Trees are beginning to sport name tags so we can know them in all seasons. Getting to know the land also means finding a way to share it with many creatures even skunks, groundhogs, beavers, bats and the beautiful foxes.. Our waterfront has always been the wildest in our area. It is the one area of natural forest we have. Our plan is to build on that to encourage even more wildlife than we currently enjoy.

Actions for management

• Pesticide free
• Removal of invasive weeds
• Native plants in natural areas
• Reuse of natural materials wherever possible: e.g.wood chips, small logs, compost, leaf mulch We used gravel, stone and topsoil from the property to do any backfilling or landscaping

Savannah: The grasslands are described as cleared since the very early 1800s. While the grasses growing there are probably not native, they provide a sanctuary for a greater variety of wildlife quite noticeable since we stopped mowing this area. We enjoy the broad sweeps of colour as the season changes.

Actions to Develop the Savannah:

• Plant red and black oak saplings
• Added big bluestem grasses near these oaks
• Keep a path through the grasses for walks
• Removal of invasive Dog strangling vine is ongoing
• Start a bridging area between the savannah and the large white pines by planting mid story native trees: pyramidal dogwood, redbud

Shoreline

Our shoreline is natural except for a short concrete retaining wall near the dock buildings. This area will have large boulders in front of the concrete to break the wave action and encourage more water life.

Actions regarding our shoreline:

• Stabilized the steep slope in two areas with native plantings. This will encourage rainwater to seep into the slopes, decreasing the runoff, and keeping the lake cleaner.
• Enlarged the docks to enable better swimming access and more room for sunning.

Woods

For many years a wilderness of invasive weeds prevented passage through the plantation stands of scots pine and white pine. A Forest Management Plan has given us the directives to transform this to a diversifying woodlot with clear paths for walking.

Actions:

• The existing trees have been thinned to increase the light and encourage seedlings of maple, oak and alder to develop into large trees.
• About 400 additional pines have been planted to replace the Scots pines which are nearing their life span.
• Native trees that are more unusual but suitable for our area are sought and planted to further their spread and our biodiversity. Some examples are kentucky coffee tree, sycamore, hickory.
• The invasive weeds are being replaced with native wildflowers, ferns and hostas.
• Middle storey native shrubs of elderberry and choke cherry are filling in beside the many lilacs and honeysuckle already in place.
• Paths are lined with cut trees and mulch products from the woods themselves.
• Some log piles and dead trees are left as animal habitat.

Wildflower garden

A large section of the open savannah is planted with wildflowers suitable to our hot, dry sandy gravel soil. This section is mowed or burned yearly to manage the plants. We do minimal weeding in there to remove invasives that blow in from the fields. The path though this very alive plot provides a seat to sit and watch the birds, insects and small animals that make it their home.

Hedgerow

Loretto Maryholme is located in Roches Point, a community that is very interested in conserving the natural heritage of the area. The area is home to foxes, deer, turkeys, coyotes. The village has undertaken the establishment and care of an ecopark on the site of a former federal government dock. A sizable property surrounding the village is in trust to the Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority. Loretto Maryholme's property is between these two areas. It's long road frontage is ideally suited for establishing a hedgerow to encourage safe wildlife movement.The hedgerow mini-ecosystem has all the key ingredients that an animal needs to survive: food, shelter, nesting and denning sites. Currently we have over 200 shrubs and bushes in place including cedars and wild raspberry. We hope to plant an additional 2500, hawthorn, serviceberry, dogwood, red-berried elder, and choke cherry in the next few years.

Actions to develop the hedgerow:

• Remove invasive dog strangling vine – (summer workers and Stewardship Rangers)
• Plant cedars along fence line in sun areas.
• Transplant raspberry and blackberry bushes from the woodland to form another row of bushes.
• Apply for grant to finance remaining shrubs.
• Plant red pines at the edge of hedgerow closest to existing plantation stand.

Flower beds

The several beds surrounding the buildings are a mixture of shrubs, bulbs and perennials. We are in process of labeling these for your information. Many of the plants are donated from our gardener friends.

Actions for the flower beds

• Careful monitoring for early pest removal
• Regular deadheading to increase the bloom period
• Full beds to discourage weeds
• Mulching spring and fall with leaf mulch from our own trees