It has been a busy first season for Transition Kamloops’ Nature-Friendly Yards project. Over the spring and summer, we gathered in local yards to learn from one another and explore what nature-friendly gardening can look like in Kamloops.

We started with a design charrette facilitated by Shelaigh Garson of EveryOne’s Eden Regenerative Land Design, using one front yard as our working space to think about how a yard is actually used before deciding what should change. Together, we considered pathways, accessibility, gathering spaces, snow storage, water, existing trees, pollinator habitat and connections with neighbours.

Our next gathering took us to Teresa’s garden, where Mandy from the Kamloops Naturalist Club guided us through the Grow Wild yard assessment rubric. We toured the garden and then sat down together to work through the rubric, using a real yard to explore some of the choices and trade-offs involved in creating space for both people and nature.

For our third gathering, we visited Diane’s native garden in Juniper Ridge, joined by Thompson Shuswap Master Gardener Megan Blackmore. Diane took us on a beautiful journey through how her garden has been transformed and cultivated over the years, including how it survived the mountain pine beetle. Beneath mature ponderosa pines, the shady backyard is now filled with native plants, while the sunny front yard offers a very different space and an opportunity to think about what might come next. We also talked about mimicking the landscape, and how the plants and conditions in our yards can reflect the landscapes that surround us in Kamloops.

City support for Nature-Friendly Yards

We’re excited to share that the City of Kamloops has awarded Transition Kamloops funding through the 2026 Community Climate Action Grant to support the next stage of Nature-Friendly Yards.

The funding will support more programming through fall 2026 and into spring 2027, including the creation of Nature-Friendly Yards signage for participating households. The signs will help identify participating yards and encourage conversations about nature-friendly gardening in our neighbourhoods.

We’re also planning another arts event celebrating nature, art and community, building on the spirit of Wild Words, which helped launch Nature-Friendly Yards this spring.

And we may even have a Nature-Friendly Yards demonstration garden in Riverside Park in the works. More on that one to come!

We’ll continue learning in local front and back yards, and we welcome invitations from people who would like to share their spaces with the group. Your yard doesn’t need to be finished or perfect. A project in progress, an interesting challenge or something you’re experimenting with can give us plenty to learn from.

Season 2 begins at Notch Hill Community Growers

We’re kicking off Season 2 with Nature-Friendly Yards 2.2: A Visit to Notch Hill Community Growers on Saturday, September 26 at 10 a.m.

We’ll explore their xeriscape garden, Miyawaki forest and ongoing conversion of annual growing beds to a Syntropic Food Forest. We’ll also see what is happening on the hillside, where they have been working to increase organic matter and help the soil hold more water.

It will be a chance to see some different approaches to growing in our dry Interior climate and think about which ideas might translate to our own yards.

Registration is free, and we’ll be coordinating carpooling for those who would like to share a ride.

More coming this fall

On September 19, we are visiting an Upper Sahali yard to learn about overwintering habitat for beneficial insects and what we can do, or leave alone, in our yards this fall to help them through the winter.

And if fall planting is on your mind, Split Rock Environmental has confirmed that their nursery can put together a group plant order for us. If you’re interested in participating, let us know.

We’re looking forward to another season of learning together. And if you’re looking for even more opportunities to learn this fall, be sure to check out the gardening programs in the City of Kamloops Activity Guide.

Photo credit: Elaine Sedgman