The Berm

We finally started on the Berm. 

The Berm after planting irises at the top - 31 July 2017

We planted iris corms at the top of the Berm, then added a thin layer of chipper/shredder mulch on top. The idea is that when the irises sprout, then we will weed between them and add more mulch around the irises. This is an alternative to when we planted irises around the outside of the Entrance Area. In that case, we dug out the existing sod, added 5-way soil and planted iris corms with their leaves and then mulched around them. It was a lot of work. 

In the case of the Berm, we did not want to disturb the grass as it is on a slope and we have become quite sensitive to erosion issues. The bottom of the Berm will be planted with day lilies that we can retrieve from other areas and, of course, mulched immediately.

Notice the virginia creeper and its stakes next to the cement wall. The vines have been thriving since the first day we planted them.

The Berm will become another area that the Parks Canada staff will no longer need to maintain.

Here's a photograph of our volunteers taken during the planting:

Planting irises at the top of the Berm

The photograph reminds me of a Georges Seurat painting from 1884 "Un dimanche après-midi à la Grande Jatte". Georges Seurat was a French impressionist painter known for the style of pointillism, a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of colour are applied in patterns to form an image (Wikipedia). Perhaps the Riel family may have seen a copy of that painting:

Un dimanche après-midi à la Grande Jatte

Here's the Georges Seurat version of our volunteers:

Un vendredi après-midi à la Grande Berme