City warns against taking bushes, plants from parks and green spaces

The City of Calgary is reminding residents there are hefty fines for those who take plants and shrubs home with them from city parks and green spaces  — and that includes berry bushes too.

Faye Wythe said berry bushes are disappearing from a local walking spot near her home in Aspen Woods in southwest Calgary.

“I walk this pathway all the time and I noticed all the damage to the grass and that some saskatoon berry bushes had been ripped out,” she said.

Wythe said she found a stash of digging tools left in the bushes nearby.

“Who would do this? Who would come here and take these bushes from a natural area?”

The quiet green space is tucked away behind homes in Aspen Woods just south of the neighbourhood of Wentworth, next to construction work taking place on the new west ring road.

The area is packed with bushes bearing tasty and edible saskatoon berries in the summer months. Wythe believes someone was tempted to take some of the bushes home with them, leaving a mess in the process.

“They probably wanted it for their own back yard and thought this was an inexpensive place to get them and they’ve ended up damaging a sensitive and protected area,” she said.

“Who’s missing their tools that I found here? And who’s just got some new saskatoon bushes in their yard that they didn’t purchase?” 

Wythe took photos of the damage and reported her concerns to the city.

The city said no one should be removing anything from parks and green spaces and there are bylaws to enforce that.

“Absolutely that’s something we do not want citizens to do,” said Bradley Johnson, a community standards, emergency management and community safety inspector.

“We don’t want them removing any vegetation or plant life. It can damage the park space and it can kill off the plant.”

Johnson said there are several bylaws in place with fines ranging from $250 to $300.

The city relies on members of the public to let them know when and where someone has been seen removing berry bushes and other plants, he added. 

Johnson said people should call 311 to report any incidents.