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The Lucknow Sentinel, 2014-11-26, Page 22 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, November 26, 2014 Garden Touring is the Topic at Banquet Lucknow Horticultural Society Valerie Gillies Editor, Lucknow Sentinel The topic was Garden Touring. The speaker was Rea Hamilton Seeger of Auburn, writer for Rural Voice and member of Undis- covered Gardens Huron/ Perth. The place was Luc - know United Church for the Lucknow Horiticultural Soci- ety Banquet on November 14, 2014. Hamilton Seeger has been gardening since she was about 10 years old. She worked alongside her par- ents on a large farm where the owners used to do a lot of entertaining and there- fore required that the large formal gardens and landscaping be immaculate at all times. The landscap- ing had been laid out by a Toronto company and Hamilton Seeger believed that this was how all gar- dens were done. She real- ized that gardens bring enjoyment to others, both through the visual effects and fragrances. There were certain plantings that they were instructed to leave less strictly pruned and Hamilton Seeger learned that people like to kick and touch things that are out of order. With very fragrant plantings this gave a mysti- cal and magical feel to the garden. Hamilton Seeger and her husband bought their farm many years ago. At the time it was very rustic with no landscaping. The transfor- mation to their existing gar- den has taken decades. The first landscaping occurred to deal with a drainage prob- lem to terrace the lawn to stop having water flood their front porch and seep into the kitchen. Following this, she says "We started just like everyone else does with a 3 -foot wide flowerbed and just kept going from there:' Things to consider when planning and developing a garden are sun vs. shade areas which changes the light requiring different plants, lawn space vs. gar- den space and the pathways that will run through the space. Once you have the plant material it is time to consider structures and The Lucknow Sentinel invites you to help fill their annual mitten tree. Donations of new mittens, 4 gloves, scarves and hats will be collected until December 12. All donations will become part of the Salvation Army's Christmas packages, delivered to area children who are not as fortunate as others. For more information please contact the staff at the Lucknow Sentinel • • , (519) 528-2822 -fge , Ff. "I I' II "1 'AY/ /If. . . I The iticknow Sentinel 11107;177171iiiiIIIMITi ornamentation to give win- ter eye candy. The idea of inviting others to their garden came in the 1980's in the form of potlatch garden parties. Many gar- deners in the area would attend and bring plants to trade. It was a wonderful opportunity for new garden- ers to ask questions of the experienced gardeners, as well as to obtain plants along with the instructions for planting and caring for them. From the idea of the gar- den parties to share plants grew the idea of sharing the gardens, as well. Horticul- tural Societies are the great- est supporters for garden tours. As the garden tours expand, Hamilton Seeger notes that there are now more vegetable gardens, as well as gardens where vege- tables are tucked in among perennial beds. Hamilton Seeger revealed that at first she was very leery about offering their garden as part of a tour. She felt it would be too much of a commitment to have to have everything perfect through- out the entire summer. What she discovered is that you can schedule tours for per- haps one day per week throughout the summer. Since the gardens look their best when the grass if freshly cut, you can cut the grass one day then have the tour the next day. Along with her friend Gwen Richardson, Hamilton Seeger decided to drive around the area and tour other gardens. They soon learned that all of the spec- tacular gardens they visited had started out the same way, as a bare lot, then Rea Hamilton Seeger of Auburn was the guest speaker at the Lucknow Horticultural Society Banquet held at the Lucknow United Church on November 14, 2014. She spoke on garden touring. gradually the garden areas grew. These gardens ranged from large farms to small plots. They were delighted with the cool containers and structures, vegetable gar- dens, trees and ponds. They discovered that although most people include seating areas in their gardens, most CEI33 "Mar, alpf 01‘ BLACKFRIDAY i3i611§711=1 NOVEMBER 28TH AND 29TH at participating stores in Wingham • The Workshop • Christine's Clothes Closet • The 2 Step • Chameleon's of Wingham Fashion Boutique L's) gardeners do not sit in them unless they have visitors as they are always working in ft. Hamilton Seeger decided to explore the gardens in Lucknow in preparation for her presentation. She described what she found as there being "a jungle of j oy in Lucknow' : There is just one treasure after another from the small gardens in public areas maintained by the Horticultural Society that make the village so inviting to the many amazing private gardens. Hamilton Seeger stated that the main reason she had agreed to speak about gar- den touring is that they are always looking for new gar- dens to be volunteered to be able to offer even more tours. She would like anyone who has an interesting gar- den to consider opening up their garden for the public to enjoy.