Huron Expositor, 2006-08-09, Page 7News
The Huron Expositor • August 9, 2006 Page 7
Geddes garden puts down roots in EgmondviIIe.
Susan Hundertmark
The following is the
fifth in a series of stories
about Seaforth-area gar-
deners, celebrating
Seaforth's first year of
participation in the
Communities in Bloom
competition.
When Sheila Geddes started
planting her garden at Ann-
,Street and Kippen Road in
Egmondville, she was
putting down roots in more
ways than one.
"We had never had gar-
dens before because we've
done a lot of moving. I
decided I was not moving
again," she says.
She and her husband Don
Rueger„ a carpenter by
trade, bought an old Ontario
cottage they thought they
could restore seven years
ago but ended up having to
tear it down after discover-
ing rotten beams.
_When .they built their
house on the property,
they brought in 500 loads
of fill and sat down to
draw sketches of how
they wanted the land-
scaping to look on their
three-quarters of an acre
lot.
"Don's creative. He does
all the building and the
grunt work. I just plant
what everybody gives
me," she says.
"People hear you're gar-
dening and they drop by
bags of perennials. That's
the way we started," says
Sheila.
Sheila and Don decided
they wanted to create a
terraced garden in the
backyard. Don built a
split rail fence and
arbour at the top of the
terrace and retrieved the
stones from an old barn
foundation to ring the
garden at the bottom of
the slope.
"We did it all by hand.
It took a full day rolling
the stones by hand down
the hill. We had it
mapped out and went
from there," she says.
A peastone path bisects
the gardens through the
arbour and the gardens
are filled with perennials.
"I like easy perennials.
I'm not much for trying
things that are tropical or
fancy. I'm kind of a lazy gar-
dener," says Sheila.
At the bottom of the yard,
three raised vegetable gar-
dens are filled with enough
vegetables for the two to eat
and share with friends.
A beautiful old pear tree
is fully laden with Bartlett
pears, a reminder of the
farm that used to be located
on the property.
"It's an old tree and I keep
trying to baby it along. The
pears are wonderful," she
says.
And, because the tomatoes
didn't like living at the back
of the yard where evergreen
trees have made the soil a
little too acidic, a kitchen
garden is located in the full
sun just below the back
deck, filled with tomatoes,
basil, and chives.
A circular rose garden.
surrounds a wooden
pedestal topped with a
hemispheric sun dial
between the house -and the
R RE
top of the terraced garden.
A workshop built close to
Kippen Road three years
ago provides more privacy
for the garden and another
backdrop for more perenni-
als.
Sheila also loves bird
baths, which are positioned
throughout her gardens.
And, because of her aware-
ness of West Nile virus and
possible breeding places for
mosquitoes, she empties and
refills the birdbatis every
day.
A split rail fence along the
side of the house is the set
ting for yet another garden
full of perennials.
Sheila's favourite time of
year for her gardens is
spring when the peonies
and lupines are in their full
glory.
"I think my spring garden
is magnificent," she says,
adding that one of her best
"scores" is the gift of five old
peony plants in five differ-.
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