As you read this the LINC weekend workshop on native plants will have just happened. Hopefully you will have attended and acquired an interest and some skills at incorporating native plants into your landscaping. We have a couple areas in our clearing, here at home, where we encourage the native vining blackberry to establish, well actually dominate. When it blooms the pollinators revel, the humming of native bee’s is almost disturbing.

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On the subject of native plants and their stewardship. The plantings at the Mount Tremation Nature Reserve are watered weekly, June through September or until the rain returns. There is year of watering and then the plantings will be declared established and left to their own devices. When planted each individual had a watering tube installed into its root zone and the plants were mulched with forest litter to moisture retention. The hand watering operation involves delivering a measured amount of water, collected and stored onsite, to the root zone through the watering tubes. The whole operation to water the plantings at eight plots, inside and outside of the exclosure takes about two hours. If you are interested in becoming more familiar and giving a hand with the ecological restoration pilot at Mount Trematon consider volunteering to water one week this summer. It’s best as a two person job, so tag a friend and make a date to spend a few hours in the forest getting hands on with restoration. Watch for our call for volunteers.

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After focusing on native plants and their stewardship its worth mentioning our invasive plants here on Lasqueti. The ones that need watching are Yellow flag iris, Daphne (Spurge-Laurel), and English holly. Check the BC invasive plant councils excellent website for more information and methods of removal. In the case of Yellow flag iris if you do nothing else please don’t contribute to its spread. Daphne and holly are still manageable on an individual level here on Lasqueti. On a recent hike in Thetis Lake Park outside Victoria I walked through a forest of old growth Douglas fir where the entire understory was English holly. It can easily get out of hand.

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The Estate Planning Workshop is now scheduled for Friday, June 23rd. LINC will be hosting Carla Funk, a financial specialist with the Islands Trust Conservancy. The workshop will explore options for financial planning that can help reduce or eliminate capital gains tax; how to help your family while also helping the charities you support: land transfer and conservation options, while you are living or through your will. Private consultation can be arranged in advance. As stressed in our popular, Good to Go and Gone for Good workshops here on Lasqueti its never too soon to get your matters in order when it comes to end of life.

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The date for this years Squitty Bay Day has been set for August, 27th. A great day to show a little love for the south end.

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For more check out our website at https://linc.lasqueti.ca/ or follow us on Facebook  at https://www.facebook.com/LINCBC Duane, for LINC