Our Roots: Pollinate Aylmer
Pollinate Aylmer is a grassroots movement of residents, gardeners, families, and nature lovers in Aylmer, Gatineau. What started as a handful of neighbours sharing native plants and informal garden tours has grown into a vibrant community of people who believe that ecological change begins in your own backyard — literally.
These are the people who show up, time and time again, and make our initiatives a success.
Read our story in the Aylmer Bulletin
Learn how it all started, fittingly, in our local paper
Hyper-Local, Deeply Engaged
Our volunteers show up, and dig in. From seed-starting workshops at the Aylmer Community House windows to neighbourhood planting days along the Aylmer Butterflyway, every action is rooted in place. We know the soil, the streets, and the seasons because we live here. That hyper-local knowledge is our superpower: it means every plant we grow, every habitat we build, is tuned to this specific corner of the Ottawa River watershed.
Connection Through Cultivation
At its core, Pollinate Aylmer is about connection — between people and the land, between neighbours who might never have met, and between generations learning side by side. A retired teacher swaps propagation tips with a teenager. A newcomer to Canada plants their first milkweed. A seasoned gardener discovers a native species they’ve never tried. These moments of shared discovery are what keep the movement growing.
Learning for Every Level
Whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned horticulturalist, there’s a place for you here:
- High-energy and hands-on? Join a planting day, help build a pollinator garden, or volunteer at Seedy Saturday.
- Detail-oriented and curious? Dive into our seed-starting workshops, attend an identification walk, or help catalogue species in the Learning Lab.
- Curious but not sure where to start? Come to a park pop-up, grab a free seed packet, and ask questions — no experience needed.
Join Us — Your Way
There is no membership fee, no minimum commitment, and no gatekeeping. Pollinate Aylmer runs on generosity, curiosity, and the simple belief that a neighbourhood full of native plants is a neighbourhood worth living in.
- Come when you can. Every event is open to all — drop in for an hour or stay for the whole day.
- Help where you want. Dig, plant, water, photograph, organize, translate — there’s always something that matches your skills.
- Stay for the friendships. The plants bring us together; the people keep us coming back.
