Quebec family transformed pesticide-treated yard into habitat with 300 trees

What began as an ordinary suburban backyard in Quebec has, over the course of decades, become something far less conventional and far more alive. When Chris and Danielle Adam bought their property in Carignan in 1987, the yard was dominated by a pesticide-treated lawn, an above-ground swimming pool and a scattering of trees. Fifteen years of patient restoration later, the same space had ponds, gardens, wetlands and hundreds of native plants, creating a miniature ecosystem in the middle of suburbia. Today, the family’s backyard covers just under half a hectare and has become a refuge for wildlife, as well as a long-running family project involving their two sons, Stewart and Wilson, states an online report by the Canadian Wildlife Federation.Letting nature reclaim the yardAccording to the report, the transformation was gradual rather than dramatic.