October 15, 2014
With the help of a small crew of Windsor Chapter volunteers, the Solidarity Gardens at Hospice Windsor and Essex County got a refresh this summer.

Windsor Chapter has a long and involved history with Solidarity Gardens. Back in 2012, (See July 2012, Landscape Ontario magazine), a special open house was held thanking the Chapter for creating the garden at the facility.

This summer a crew, consisting of Chris Power, Vince Power, Jay Rivait and Don Tellier, carried out a quick garden cleanup, installed several new plants and hard wired in some new LED light fixtures in the two pergola areas.

“The gardens were always quite attractive during the daylight hours and now look great in the evening,” says Chapter president Don Tellier. “Special thanks goes to Scott Sims from Turfcare in London, for some favourable pricing and donations towards this project.”

This fall Windsor Chapter will complete a fall cleanup with the aid of students from the St. Clair College horticulture program.

When the garden was installed, the Windsor Chapter supported the development with cash and donated materials and labour as a portion of the overall cost. Funds were raised through the Chapter’s annual Growing Together Garden and Landscape Show at St. Clair College. The Chapter no longer partners with the college on this show.

The gardens were named Solidarity Gardens due to the major cash support from the local Chrysler and Ford assembly workers’ unions. The Canadian Auto Workers also contributed to the garden by raising $100,000 for the project. It was pointed out at the time, that without the LO volunteers, the garden would have cost much more than $100,000.