Have you experienced and felt the beauty and serenity of Hawkwood’s flower displays lining our streets and entrances? Have you simply enjoyed spending valuable time in our caringly groomed parks and green spaces with family, friends, or solo? Does the greenery and spice of our winter displays provide a little warmth on those cold winter days?
Hawkwood Community Association’s LEAF Program provides all of this and more!
A little about the program; in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hawkwood residents endured a growing deterioration of our community from its age and ever-dwindling parks services. In 2004, Hawkwood homeowners subsequently voted in favor of implementing our LEAF program. Community volunteers with the Hawkwood Community Association direct the program and the City of Calgary oversees it. Our program’s success has inspired its growth in 11 additional communities within Calgary.
A once-per-year tax levy of $79.94 (2026) is collected with our property taxes and is used to provide:
• Flowers in 88 large flowerpots
• Winter features in all 88 flowerpots
• Weekly mowing of all 62 green spaces and parks
• Watering of medians during prolonged dry weather
• Weekly litter pickup and inspection of the 62 green spaces and parks
• Irrigation in eligible small parks
• Spring and autumn cleanup of all green spaces and parks
• Liaise with Calgary Parks on improvements, efficiencies, and policies
• Fast response times with 3-1-1 or other parks related concerns
• Customized administration of the program
Each year, Mother Nature never fails to surprise us. The much-needed moisture welcomed relief for our urban forest canopy after so many years of drought and record summer temperatures. We are looking forward to the results in next year’s tree growth and rebound.
The relentless rain did cause challenges in getting our green spaces mowed but our Bugaboo partners were up to the task. A big thanks for their efforts, sacrifices, and adjustments to keep our community looking awesome!
We endured yet another hail and windstorm in July that required a lot of clean up and set back our flower growth. Although there is never a guarantee, our flowers have been chosen over many years of experience with our microclimate challenges in mind, including hail resistance.
Another big thank you to Pixie Gardens for their continued work and expertise in providing us with the flowers we enjoy! They were able to get the fertilizer into our rain drenched planters with the right amount of moisture, while we patiently waited for warm weather in July (that never came) to boost the flowers to full growth.
Our John Laurie Blvd flower beds are behaving much better after last year’s renovations – which included an innovative in-ground watering system.
Road work at our Hawkstone Drive entrance off Nose Hill Drive has forced our hand to do something different at that location. Continued safety concerns from vehicular traffic at this location have resulted in attempts to provide a no-maintenance display here only to be hindered by winter road salt, extreme winds, and no shade. As such, this spot will receive a dry-bed rock feature with an additional flower planter set back from the intersection.
Behind the scenes, many Calgary LEAF communities and the City of Calgary itself have been working hard to bring some big, positive, and sustainable changes on the horizon for all city-wide LEAF programs. Many other communities wanting to join the program are also excited about the future of the program. Stay tuned for more on this as we learn and collaborate with the city on this exciting news.
Hopefully our shortening days will still provide us with warmth to stretch out our flowers as far as possible before finally giving way to our winter displays.
This is your program! This is your Hawkwood!
LEAF
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