Community and pollinator gardens in Guelph

• Get involved in community gardens
• Water efficient gardening on your property

About community gardens

The community garden program encourages volunteers to use City parks and other public spaces (like schools) as locations for fruit, vegetable and pollinator gardens that benefit the community.

Having fruits and vegetables grown just around the corner in your park brings a whole new meaning to local food. Pollinator gardens also provide a food source for a variety of wildlife including insects and some bird species.

There are many different models of community gardens, including traditional vegetable gardens, pollinator gardens and even community orchards.

Watch as Two Rivers Huron Street Community Garden rebuilds their compost system

Two Rivers Huron Street Community Garden rebuilt their compost system so that their garden can deal with large volumes of organic green waste. If a compost system is not designed optimally, waste takes a long time to decompose. This is one of the many challenges common to many community gardens that this project aimed to address.

Each community garden is different. Making changes to the design and details of projects that include a compost structure must be assessed separately to understand what will work and be allowed for public spaces.

To access additional resources like information sheets or to ask a question, please email [email protected].

Traditional community garden

A traditional community garden invites people to rent a plot to grow and harvest their own fruits, vegetables, herbs or flowers.

Communal garden

In a communal garden, people garden as a team. They may share or donate some of the food they grow with local community groups or agencies.

Food forest

Sometimes called a “community orchard” a food forest is a mixture of fruit trees and shrubs maintained by a group of volunteers, where everyone (including local wildlife) is welcome to enjoy the fruit.

Pollinator garden

Pollinator garden feature plants and flowers that provide nectar and pollen resources for bees and other important insects. They can also provide food and habitat for other wildlife, or stormwater infiltration. Volunteers can help maintain the gardens and help inspire people to create pollinator gardens on their own properties.

Interested in starting a community garden?

Interested in starting your very own community garden next spring? The deadline to apply to get a garden in your community park is October 31.

For more information

Community garden coordinator
[email protected]