Canada: She’s been growing a garden for monarch butterflies for 2 decades. So why did the city mow it down?
Susan McKee given $125 bylaw ticket around the time international scientists listed monarchs as endangered
By Michelle Both
CBC News
Jul 26, 2022
Excerpt:
Susan McKee returned from her summer vacation earlier this month only to discover that her naturalized pollinator garden — once filled with endangered monarch butterflies and bees — was gone.
“It’s all chopped down. Everything’s just chopped to the ground,” said McKee, who has lived in her Briscoe Street West home in London, Ont., for nearly 20 years.
McKee said neighbours told her they saw city staff cut down the plants with weed wackers after someone had filed a complaint.
“I was in shock,” said McKee. “I’ve put lots of time and love into this garden — and just to have it chopped down for no reason other than a neighbour complaint is just devastating.”
McKee also received a $125 bylaw ticket last week.
Her garden, once filled with more than 20 varieties of plants — including milkweed, periwinkle, chicory and wild rose — was “quite high,” she said. It covered her front yard and the boulevard.
