Viriditas Contemplation Garden

What is the power of a garden?

It is the question we will be answering ourselves as set out to create a new Viriditas Contemplative Garden on the church grounds. This project, made possible by the Anglican Foundation of Canada, will be a joint effort of the community of St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary and St. Faith’s congregation to convert a portion of the grounds from a grass monoculture to a beautiful garden space that invites members of the neighbourhood to explore, pause, and find respite in the busyness of our lives and our city.

The garden will be filled with pollinator-friendly plants, herbs, and edible plants to create a greater biodiversity in an urban landscape, support important pollinator species, and become more drought resilient and water-savvy. The plants selected will be a mixture of settler and Indigenous varieties as an embodiment of the reconciliation work to which our church community is so deeply committed. Seating and signage in the garden will offer places for the public to sit, rest, and contemplate as well as learn about the positive impact a garden can offer to the community.

What is more, the garden will further our own community goals of lowering our carbon footprint by directly reducing the amount of land that requires mowing during the growing season. Our hope is to continue to convert grass on the property into beautiful and healing garden spaces that promote restoration of relationship with the land and with each other.

Work on the garden will begin in the spring and continue into the summer as we prepare the ground, plant seeds and fully grown specimens, and install benches and signage. Stay tuned for updates on the progress and opportunities to get your hands in the dirt and join in the work with us!

We are deeply grateful to the Anglican Foundation of Canada for supporting this project with grant money. You can learn more about the other exciting work made possible by them at anglicanfoundation.org.