In the face of hot summer heat and drought conditions, a new Crofton group is looking to beautify the neighbourhood with some special plants.
As part of the Crofton Community Centre, the Communities in Bloom group is looking to install weather and wildlife resistant plants on the boulevards and traffic circles into the newly renovated areas of town.
Director of the Crofton Community Centre Society Dan Robin says North Cowichan staff and council are strategic about the kinds of plants that will be used for this project.
“The people of North Cowichan are working hard at spending their money correctly and putting plantings into the new renovations of our streets in town, which is happening this year,” said Robin. “There will be new boulevards, they’ll be traffic circles with plantings. I’ve been told by the mayor that these are going to be looked at very closely to be drought-resistant, possibly deer resistant.”
Robin said, “We need to follow mother nature’s lead on this so we don’t waste our money putting something in the ground that’s going to die in two months.”
Robin said society members will maintain the plants once North Cowichan completes construction and planting.
“North Cowichan’s agreed to train the Crofton Communities in Bloom to do maintenance on that as well, over time. North Cowichan doesn’t have to spend a lot of money for us, we’ll do it for free, we’re on it all the time, we drive by it and we want to look after it,” said Robin. “This drought-resistant thing they (North Cowichan) has going on, I’m not sure what it is, but I do believe they’re going to educate us so that we can make those plants last a long time and make the town look great.”
With Cowichan Lake at about 30 percent capacity and a snowpack level that’s a quarter of what is deemed normal, we are likely heading for what could be a record-setting drought season.
