Get to know Burnaby’s eco-sculptures

Most Burnaby residents are familiar with the city’s quirky animal inhabitants made out of plants that often appear overnight in parks and public spaces. But have you ever wondered how they are created and where the idea behind them came from? The Beacon spoke with Heather Edwards, manager of parks design with the city, about the eco-sculptures, a very important project to her. 

Edwards brought the eco-sculptures to Burnaby in 2003 after she visited Montreal’s Mosaiculture, where she saw a display of living sculptures on frames, a new approach to horticulture. Since then, the city’s eco-sculpture collection has grown to 80, replanted and recreated every spring. The city now has an interactive map on its website that guides people who want to explore the collection. 

Edwards said they are called “eco-sculptures” because of the materials used—they are mostly reusable. The metal frames are reused indefinitely, while the soil lasts for around three years, after which the outer fabric and soil are replaced and the sculpture recreated around the frame. 

“If you picture a body, we all have our skeletal frame inside, and so does an eco-sculpture; it has a metal frame that supports everything, and on that metal frame, we attach a filter fabric. We staple this fabric to the frame, almost like skin. Inside that filter fabric, we put a mix of soil and a growing medium; it’s like a recipe; certain part soil, certain part fertilizer, and loam,” Edwards said. “We poke a hole in the filter fabric skin, and then we plug a little plant plugs in, and the roots are planted into the soil.”

The city’s collection of 80 eco-sculptures varies in cost depending on the size of the sculpture and the design. Edwards estimates that the sculptures cost between $2,000 for the smaller ones and $4,000 for the larger ones. This cost includes labour, materials, and the plants. 

The city works with two professional artists, Sandra Bilawich and Bruce Voyce, who help design the sculptures. Edwards and the team that works on the sculptures get together every year to discuss different ideas, themes, and stories to tell with the sculptures. 

“For example, the World Police and Fire Games were being hosted by the City of Burnaby in 2009, and their emblem was an eagle. So I said, ’oh, well, let’s do a greening of the games, and let’s have multiple eagles around town where the venues are as welcoming pieces for the games’ participants.’ That was a legacy from the games, and every year we’re still planting those eagles,” Edwards said. “I like to work collaboratively with the artists and others who are inspirational designers. I’m a landscape architect by trade, so design is something I do.”

Community members who want to learn more about creating eco-sculptures can volunteer to help with the sculptures, but Edwards said that the volunteer program is very popular, and spots fill up fast every spring. 

“We can’t accommodate everybody who wants to be a volunteer. Usually, I’d have to talk to my staff on how many volunteers get involved,” Edwards said. “There’s probably at least 20 sessions, and maybe 10 people per session would be a maximum. It varies year to year, but you know, a couple hundred volunteers.”

While outright vandalism is rare, people sometimes accidentally damage the sculptures when they try to take selfies with them or place their children on the sculpture for a photo, not realizing that they are damaging living plants. City staff have come up with ways to minimize the harm to the sculptures. 

“For example, when we put the carousel horses out, you know, parents and kids might come along and say, ’oh, well, let’s put Johnny on the horse and get a photo’,” Edwards said. “So we’ve adapted the sculptures over time, and now on the carousel horses, we put a saddle that could be sat on, rather than planting the top of it.”

Every year, when fall begins, the plants start to wither and die off, and it is time to take the eco-sculptures back into the nursery, where they will be stored until the spring when they are revived once again with new and colourful plants. Over the years, Edwards said the city has tried different types of plants but has yet to find perennials that work for the sculptures. Edwards’ team continues to experiment with different perennial options, such as adding succulents to the alligator. 

“We’ve tried some perennials on some of the sculptures, but we haven’t been as successful with the perennials, and we decided that the annuals that we plant new each year have a way better showing, and the sculpture itself looks way better than trying to just keep the same plants in forever kind of thing.”

Some sculptures are used during the holiday season, such as the sheep, which are transformed into reindeer, and they can be seen around different parks, such as Civic Square, attached to a sled, while the owls turn into wizards, elves, or other characters. 

“Each year, we pick a part of the collection and do a different application on them to help celebrate the Christmas season. The last few years, we’ve taken part of our collection of owls and dressed them up for winter,” Edwards said. “We’re taking dried plants, so not living plants, but pine cones or leaves that have a beautiful shape to them, or even sticks, branches, and other natural elements. We’re working with artists to basically clothe the sculptures in a winter, fun celebration kind of way.”

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

Like what you just read? Do you support local journalism? Help us keep going—and growing.

Sign up for our once a week newsletter, or become an Insider to show your love for local reporters and writers.