Claremont Seed Orchard, ON

SpruceLab led the landscape design and implementation of a seed orchard pilot project in Claremont, ON, for the World Wildlife Fund Canada (one of several pilot sites). The native herbaceous species local to the areas were considered essential in creating a curated plant list to best suit the needs for the area. Identifying and restoring native plants and source-identified local seeds were a focus for this project. SpruceLab was a Southern Ontario Seed Strategy contributor and an OPRA (Ontario Plant Restoration Alliance) cooperator. We advised on scaling up local-origin seed growth, track seed provenance, follow SER Guidelines, committing to sustainable wild collection, and promoting cooperators of OPRA and the SOSS to share information, seeds, and opportunities in the interest of plants.

From Ryan Godfrey, WWF:
“A Seed Orchard is a garden that harnesses the powers of fertility and fecundity to turn a few hundred native plants into many thousands of offspring. This installation will be a pollinator garden, a human habitat, a learning and a teaching space and will be the location of a very special harvest: one that produces the seeds for future ecological restoration…”