2022 is Canada’s Year of the Garden

Proclaiming 2022 Canada’s Year of the Garden: A national movement to connect with plants

Gardens and gardening contribute to the development of our country, our cities, and the lives of Canadians in terms of health, quality of life, inclusion, environment and sustainability. Gardens are cultural landscapes, and their aesthetic, horticultural, historical and environmental richness evokes interest in young and old, allowing people from all walks of society to connect. Gardens often serve as a shared third space in communities and enable people to link back to the land.

The Year of the Garden 2022 is the Centennial Celebration of Canada’s ornamental horticulture sector marked with the 100th Anniversary of the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association. From January 1 to December 31, 2022, a national celebration will commemorate Canada’s rich garden heritage, celebrate today’s vibrant garden culture, and create legacies for a sustainable future.

Numerous promotions are planned to highlight a year of exciting activities, celebrations, special events organized by members of Canada’s Garden-Family that will take place in communities, schools, businesses, public gardens and backyard gardens in all parts of Canada.

The Year of the Garden 2022, led by the Canadian Garden Council in collaboration with members of Canada’s Garden-Family, will engage Canadian gardeners, families, students, tourists and communities and invite them to ‘Live the Garden Life’.

A year-long marketing campaign will focus on our unique Canadian garden culture and history in the context of post-pandemic recovery and the challenges that we face, like environment, health and Truth and Reconciliation. The ‘Live the Garden Life’ campaign will guide the conversation on the importance of public and private gardens in our rural and urban landscapes. By focusing on people and connecting them to the benefits of plants, we will create more healthy and enjoyable communities alongside helping people adapt to the changes occurring around us.

Gardens and gardening: connecting Canadians

Canada’s passion for gardens and gardening has never been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canadians turned their yards into practical and beautiful garden sanctuaries, and research suggests that this trend is set to continue as 83 percent of Canadian households garden.

“Canada a garden nation? A nation of gardeners? You bet,” says Alexander Reford, President of the Canadian Garden Council and Director of Reford Gardens—Jardins de Métis. “Gardening is a shared passion from coast to coast to coast. Not only do our gardens allow us to enjoy the flavours and freshness of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, but our flowerbeds and gardens also nourish our health and happiness. Our world needs more gardeners, and Canadians lead the charge to plant to make a better planet. The Year of the Garden 2022 is an inclusive national celebration of what we are and where we are going—a nation of gardeners.” The legacy of the Year of the Garden 2022 will be an improved quality of life for Canadians through sustainable development to fight climate change, impart significant health and well-being benefits, facilitate inclusive communities and our process of truth and reconciliation, and drive economic growth.

Aside from the immediate health benefits that gardens provide, such as being outdoors, exercising and increasing mobility, gardens also serve as a place of solace and mental rejuvenation as we find our way through this global pandemic, the importance of public spaces that are inclusive of all individuals and are outdoors continues to be increasingly important.

The Year of the Garden 2022 would not be possible without the support and partnership with numerous members of Canada’s Garden Family. The Canadian Garden Council is please to collaborate with Canada’s Local Gardener as the official Year of the Garden magazine to reach Canadians from coast to coast. For more info on Canada’s Year of the Garden initiatives, promotions, partners and sponsors and opportunities keep consulting this magazine and visit www.yearofthegarden.ca.

Who is the Canadian Garden Council?

Founded in April 2014, in collaboration with the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA), the Canadian Garden Council fosters awareness, development and growth of Canada’s garden experience sector—our garden culture. Council membership reflects partnerships among all sectors of the horticulture, public garden, gardening, tourism and associated industries on a regional, provincial and territorial basis, enabling the Council to address the full range of issues facing the garden experience sector. Our vision is to champion the garden experience sector’s contributions to the well-being of Canadians, the sustainability of our communities and promote the joys and benefits of gardens, gardening, urban and municipal landscapes, and living green infrastructure.