Photo provided by Cynthia Pohl.
The new Urban Habitat Planter project is adding a living element to the nature-based murals in Red Deer’s core.
When Cynthia Pohl, the Project Lead, first saw the murals, she was immediately inspired to add another element that encourages residents and visitors to interact with the space.
“I saw these beautiful nature-based murals and I loved them, but there was no life, they were static,” Pohl said. “That's when I thought it would be wonderful to bring urban habitat planters in front of these beautiful murals and bring a kinetic living element to the space to activate it, and get more people down there interacting with it, because it's a living space and it changes over time.”
Plants for the project were chosen that have a shifting bloom palette throughout the summer, and that will provide a food resource for pollinators.
“There's a mix of plants. We specifically chose plants that we know provide that rich source of nectar for pollinators,” Pohl said. “We have a mix of indigenous plants and non-indigenous plants.”
Some of the plants featured in the project include blanket flowers, evening primrose, yarrows, and cosmos.
“We really do a nice mix of annuals and perennials,” Pohl said.
Photo provided by Cynthia Pohl.
For Pohl, it was important to bring pockets of nature to the downtown area.
“As soon as we installed the plants, we had people engaging with us, people were lighting up and they were happy to see life coming back downtown again,” she said. “It helps encourage communication between people and also communication between people in the natural world as they spend time just looking at the planters."
Not only did the project bring life back to the downtown core, but it is also benefiting pollinators.
“We have an incredible lack of resources for pollinators in both downtown and urban settings,” Pohl said. “These flowering plants are a valuable resource for our native and non-native pollinators.”
Going forward, Pohl is hopeful to continue the project and expand it in the future.
“It's just the beginning. We’re looking at this as a pilot project and if we can get a lot of interest, we can expand this project dramatically,” she said.
The project was possible through the City of Red Deer’s Environmental Initiatives Grant.