Living Cities

Howard Coad Community School, located in the Mount Royal neighbourhood of Saskatoon, is now home to a beautiful native prairie garden! On June 8, 2024, over 60 local volunteers transformed 250m² of the former front lawn with approximately 1000 plantings of over 20 different native prairie grasses, shrubs, and wildflowers. The garden was created to provide the broader school community with access to nature and place-based learning opportunities as well as be an urban oasis for songbirds and pollinators. 

Before installing the garden, SES was engaged with the School Community Council, Mount Royal Community Association, school staff, and students to better determine what and how elements should be incorporated into the project design. The landscape plans were based on feedback from the broader school community and experienced individuals. Native plants and many walkways to view and enjoy them were a priority for this outdoor learning space.

Volunteers then worked tirelessly to dig-out pathways, create mounded garden beds, amend the soil, spread mulch and crusher dust, plant seedlings, and water the new garden. The following week, two classes that were involved in project planning, planted seedlings in the last garden bed before school concluded for the summer. The garden continues to grow and thrive.

This Living Cities project was supported by the Living Cities Fund, a program by Green Communities Canada, and coordinated and implemented locally by SES. It is one of several Living Cities sites across Canada being completed by other environmental organizations. This project can be described as a sister site to the Depave Paradise project that SES completed at Walter Murray Collegiate in 2022. This project also wouldn’t be possible without additional financial support from the Saskatoon Environmental Advisory Committee and TD Friends of the Environment Fund, and in-kind support from Prairie River Gardens and SEIU-West.