Opinion
After a tough winter, people in Ontario are eager for renewal
Mar 17, 2026 •
Linda De Jonghe File
I can feel that spring is on its way!
This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
This morning started off gloomy and gray. As I sat at my computer trying to finish this , snow began to fall-not just a few flakes but a solid blanket of it. It seems like spring decided to take a day off today, so I’ve had to shift my thinking from spring has arrived to spring is on the horizon.
I know it’s coming soon. Nancy from the Tillsonburg Seniors Centre spotted a robin about a week ago, and Sue hung her laundry outside. There’s really no better sign that warm weather is on its way. We’ve made it through a long, cold winter, and everyone is ready for those pleasant spring breezes.
This time of year can be quite busy. My yard looks chaotic and my gardens need attention, but everything will start blooming before we know it. We’ve already seen snowdrops and crocuses pop up; soon we might even see hyacinths, tulips, and daffodils emerging.
This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Nature knows how to take care of itself. A stroll in the woods reveals trilliums, wood anemone, wild cranesbill, bluebells or hepatica sprouting up everywhere. After a tough winter, grass always finds its way back to life and starts growing again. Those bare branches will sprout leaves very soon. It seems like nature flourishes regardless of our efforts. Everything grows if it’s meant to be-if it gets enough sunshine and rain-or else makes room for something new when it doesn’t.
Mother Nature does her part by providing natural fertilizer through composting dead plants and animals which release essential nutrients into the soil. Some plants have adapted to convert otherwise unusable chemicals into forms that other plants can use.
This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
The birds and animals help nourish the earth with their droppings as they travel around searching for food. Bugs and worms break down soil and decaying matter while enriching nutrients and aerating the ground.
The minerals we need are formed as freezing temperatures erode rocks over time. Acids produced by plants and fungi dissolve these minerals making them available for other plants’ use.
Lightning strikes along with dust storms and snowfall deliver vital nutrients from the atmosphere down to earth while floods leave beneficial deposits behind in riverbanks or fields. A good rainfall or melting snow provides everything living in or on soil with what they need to thrive.
A lot of what we do in landscaping-digging up land or introducing non-native plant species-though visually appealing can disrupt nature’s balance causing issues we then have to fix artificially.
This has not loaded yet; however your article continues below.
The idea of wandering through lush meadows picking wildflowers sounds lovely! I’d love that look in my own yard too; however I was told that achieving this means removing all existing grass and planting native species-which sounds incredibly labor-intensive!
Source link
My sister once had what she called a naturalist living next door who never cut his grass or maintained his yard at all-we laughed because he didn’t fit our idea of naturalism at all! Do you think my neighbors would label me as one?
Many people probably wish they could do similar things but feel pressured instead into keeping appearances up for others around them.
twocentsworth40@gmail. com
Source link
