In the Zone - Gardens. Your Garden Can Help Native Species Thrive

What you plant matters! In the Zone helps people in the Carolinian Zone in southern Ontario to grow native plants and take part in restoring healthy ecosystems. By joining In the Zone, you can help to reverse wildlife loss by adding native plants to backyards, farmlands, gardens and balconies. These plants provide food, nesting, and stopover and overwintering sites for pollinators like bees and butterflies, as well as birds, mammals and other species. Join the In the Zone community to receive guidance and resources, participate in community science and become part of a larger solution to habitat loss.

Growing gardens that help native species thrive.

In the Zone provides the tools needed for anyone to gradually transform outdoor spaces into healthy habitat for native wildlife. Free gardening resources: In-depth guides for creating a woodland, wildflower or water garden with Carolinian species. These guides were developed by experts on wildlife and gardening to help you cultivate habitat for warblers, frogs, owls, butterflies, bees and more. Track your impact: The In the Zone Tracker measures and tracks your journey, connecting your actions to a larger effort to restore habitat across the Carolinian. This community monitoring helps ecologists and conservation organizations better understand biodiversity and ecosystem health. Connect: A supportive community of people who are passionate about restoring nature awaits you. Join the In the Zone community and share in planting tips, photos, plant and seed exchanges and celebrating the successes we achieve together.

What are native plants?

Native plants are the gold standard for attracting pollinators, restoring wildlife habitat and building healthy landscapes that are resilient to climate change. For In the Zone, “native” means that the plant species have evolved over thousands of years in the local environment and were here before European colonization transformed much of the landscape. Unlike plant species that were brought here more recently, native plants are adapted to local conditions and have deep relationships with other plants and wildlife that have long been in the area.

What is the Carolinian Zone?

The Carolinian Zone in southern Ontario is a hotspot for biodiversity and home to a growing human population. If you live here, your garden represents a critical opportunity to restore lost habitat and help create a healthy future for the region and its wildlife.

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What do you want to grow?

Help cultivate resilient, climate-smart, connected neighbourhoods. Each In the Zone garden guide offers expert tips to help transform your garden into flourishing habitat for Carolinian wildlife. Sign up for the In the Zone Tracker to download your free wildflower, woodland or wetland garden guide.

Grow an abundance of flowering plants for birds, butterflies, bees and other pollinators.

Wildflower A healthy pollinator population also supports food production for people.

Choose native trees and plants to create a woodland home for owls, chipmunks, and woodpeckers.

Choose native trees and plants to create a woodland home for owls, chipmunks and woodpeckers.

Woodland Shade trees will also help moderate the temperature in your yard and provide cooling for your home.

Add a pond or enhance a wetland for frogs, toads, turtles and salamanders.

Keep your yard wet for frogs, toads, turtles and salamanders.

Wetland Healthy ponds and wetlands can also buffer your yard from floods and droughts.

How it works

Whether you’re a gardening guru or have a brown thumb, it’s simple to grow healthy habitat with In the Zone.

Sign up for the In the Zone Tracker Receive gardening tips and updates from In the Zone.

Tell us about your garden Register any garden or planting project anywhere, whether it’s in a yard, pot, rooftop, in the water or a community plot. Fill out the In the Zone Tracker baseline survey.

Choose your garden guide and get growing Begin growing a healthy woodland, wetland or wildflower garden designed to help wildlife thrive.

Track your impact As your garden flourishes and starts to attract wildlife visitors, record your garden transformation and measure your impact using the In the Zone Tracker. You can contribute your observations to valuable community science databases.

Connect and celebrate Connect with like-minded gardeners to share stories and successes. Enjoy invitations to special events, gardening workshops and community celebrations.

Join Us In the Zone

Your garden stories

When Bronwyn and her husband, Oliver, moved into their northwest Toronto home in 2018, they wanted to create a lively urban oasis in their yard that met multiple needs: a play space for their young family, a food garden, and habitat for pollinators and other wildlife; plus, it had to be beautiful! Their front yard had traditional landscaping, including boxwood hedges with irises, grass and a Japanese maple; the back yard, on the other hand, was just a pit with gravel and other refuse.

To get started, Bronwyn and Oliver planted a variety of shade-loving species including Mayapple, Virgin’s Bower, Trillium, Nodding Onion and Wild Geranium, but the larger landscaping and planting project took place this year. Transforming the gravel pit was the biggest challenge and required professional help to level the ground and lay sod. A new fence and planter boxes completed the picture, along with over 10 different species of native plants and 15 kinds of fruits and vegetables.

The results have been well worth it: from the sheer number of butterflies (at least five different species) and native bees with sacs full of colourful pollen, to hearing crickets at night in the middle of the city, the diversity of pollinators has been amazing and rewarding to see. Their community’s response has also been positive — neighbours marvel at all the life in the garden.

Bronwyn’s advice to other homeowners? Just do what’s possible — small steps are still impactful! Look for ways to get seeds, plants or cuttings from neighbours or seasonal plant sales. It is more economical and will ensure that the plants you add to your garden are well adapted to local conditions.

Your garden can help native species thrive