GardenWise Garden Challenge Contest - Runners Up

| 07 Jan 2008

When faced with quandaries in the garden, our readers show they are up to the challenge!

We received such an inspiring response to our Garden Challenge Contest, announced in the Fall 07 issue of GardenWise, that we felt our readers were deserving of their own special feature! Congratulations to our Grand Prize Winner, chosen by our panel of judges, who wins a $250 package Lee Valley Garden Tools. Six runners up will receive a $25 gift certificate from Lee Valley, and a further selection of entries has been selected for publication.

ROCK STAR


Before	After

This area is at the front of the house and runs alongside the driveway to the front entrance. When we moved in it was a rock-strewn slope and it was hard to imagine it ever looking attractive. Many of the rocks were unstable, and what little soil existed was full of rocks of all sizes. The challenges were twofold: stabilize the rocks and create pockets where soil could be added, then find plants that were deer resistant, could tolerate sun from morning to mid afternoon and grow in shallow, fast-draining soil.

There were a few native plants that had managed to survive the construction (salal, wild rose, Oregon grape, arbutus and a cedar); these I left and chose plants that would grow well alongside them. We started by digging out roots and rocks to create areas for new plants. The huge stones that could not be lifted were levered into stable positions and dry rock walls were created to hold the soil back. What little soil there was I mixed with topsoil and peat moss to try to make it more water-retentive. We put in a low-flow irrigation system from Lee Valley.

The area gets a mix of sun and shade. The parts that are in the sun get baked in the summer from morning to mid afternoon. Those areas were planted with drought-tolerant plants as the soil is very fast draining and dries out quickly. In more shady areas it was possible to plant some rhododendrons.

The deer do come and munch on the plants occasionally but they seem to leave most of them alone now.
Jackie Grant, Garden Bay

GREAT DIVIDE

After

My garden challenge was to increase the privacy in our small backyard, surrounded on three sides by neighbouring yards. My husband and I spend a lot of time there in the summer, entertaining and relaxing.

Our neighbours directly to the back of us are separated by approximately 6 m (20 ft.) of space and a 1.5-m (5 ft.) fence. They also spend time in their yard, so it was important to create a sound and visual barrier while not feeling like we were boxed in with a high fence.

I took the garden vertical by building a screen and planting climbing vines (Japanese honeysuckle, wisteria and red trumpet) on the pergola and screen. I also put in a cedar hedge and installed a coin fountain water feature. Included are two photos of the final result taken in September 2007. We built the patio and pergola in summer 2004, so this was the final step to our summer spot.
Karla Grenon, Squamish

SOLA-GOLA

After

Our Sola-Gola combines the words solar and pergola and arises as a solution to the lack of growing space on our small strata lot. The back of our property borders a ravine and is shaded by tall conifers and maples. The warm southwest side is where we want to grow vegetables, but it consists of a gravel drive that is an easement for our strata and, as such, cannot be used for planting. However, the 60-cm-wide (2-ft.) planter along this side of the house and under the overhang is ours to use, so we decided to “grow up.”

My husband, Grant, designed a structure that is beautiful as well as practical, one that meets my planting needs and greatly enhances the look of the house. The siding is beige vinyl – 12 m (40 ft.) of nearly unrelieved beige vinyl is not aesthetically pleasing, and it absorbs heat, which was going to waste. Grant placed five pier blocks 2.5 m (8 ft.) apart in the planter and inserted a 4 x 4 post in each, which he attached to the wall. Horizontal 1x 6 cedar boards followed, two to a section, with vertical 1 x 1 pieces in between, for attaching vines.

Alternate view

We added a grapevine, two black Russian heritage tomatoes purchased from our local farm market, English cucumbers, scarlet runner beans and heritage peas to the existing rosemary, lemon thyme, climbing rose, parsley, calendula and cosmos. I beefed up the soil with our garden compost and ran the soaker hose in the early morning, and we picked cukes, peas, beans and dozens of tomatoes right up to the middle of October. The ugly beige vinyl absorbed the heat from the sun and radiated it back to the tomato vines, which grew taller than me, the leaves shaded the spare bedroom window all summer and the structure still looks good now the vines are gone.

We are planting a peach tree next on the Sola-Gola and we anticipate great results. As we are in our 70th year, growing our plants vertically made for easy harvesting, and the close proximity to the house kept the deer from sharing our crops. An inspired solution that continues to please.
Liz Forbes, Crofton

TAMING A STEEP SLOPE

After

Our challenge was a grass-covered slope that descended from the rear of our house down to our more gently sloping backyard (we live on .9 acre of ground on a north-facing hillside in North Surrey). The slope was difficult to walk up and quite dangerous to mow with the lawn tractor because of the steep gradient. It was also very boring looking!

Our solution was to create terraces with rocks recovered (by hand!) from the deep ravines bordering two sides of our property. In years past, our land had formed part of a chicken farm and the farmer(s) had bulldozed the rocks, of all shapes and sizes, over the edge. They had also found it a useful depository for such interesting domestic items as a cast-iron bathtub, empty tins, glass bottles, ceramic toilets, etc.

We created different kinds of walkways using concrete blocks, wood decking and flat-surfaced rocks. Instead of being a chore to navigate and maintain, the area now gives us great pleasure.
Ted and Nadine Staunton, Surrey

THE DITCHERY


Before	After

When we purchased our home in 1993 we also bought a huge landscaping challenge. Part of the backyard was fenced and usable, but a previous owner used heavy equipment to create access to the far side of the property and had left us with a huge ditch to deal with.

It was a few years before I was able to tackle the project, which I dreamed about each time I gazed over the backyard fence. Finally, four trucks of fill, one load of boulders (to retain the fill), and a backhoe later, I was ready to bring in nine yards of top soil, which I wheeled around myself to create beds and a lawn. Thus began my love affair with “The Ditchery,” a name my husband coined for the project. By this time, he was physically disabled and unable to participate in the labour of making the garden. He did, however, set up floodlights on the fence above so that I could continue my gardening frenzy long into the night.

Plants that were once very small have now filled in all of the garden beds. The mimosa tree in the lawn is a gorgeous specimen. Patio and paths have been created and a new path and arbour connect the driveway to the garden. Finally, this summer we had the whole garden fully fenced and I began to finish the landscaping in the remaining areas now defined by the fence. It has been a mammoth task but has indeed been a labour of love. The work continues but now we can share “The Ditchery’ with friends, all of whom delight in our very special hidden garden.
Kate von Känel, Victoria

FOUR-SEASON SENSATION


Two After Photos

My challenge was filling a huge, empty space on the north side of our driveway, after we clear-cut the area in 2002, and creating something pleasing for ourselves and for passersby. The soil here isn't good, being mostly rocks and sand, and the area is close to a bluff and bakes in the sun. It looked like a desert wasteland! We have a large resident population of deer in our subdivision so most of the plants I chose had to be deer resistant. I was told to retain the natural contours of the slope and work with them – great advice that paid off.

I started by planting some trees as focal points – a purple beech, golden locust, liquidambar, Japanese maple and an evergreen dogwood, none of which was more than 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 or 6 ft.) tall when planted. Although it was difficult, I gave each plenty of space so they can eventually reach full size without pruning or thinning. Next I added low-growing shrubs that don't need a lot of care and then many different types of Miscanthus, as well as a few other grasses, cotoneasters, lavenders, heathers, thymes, sages and yarrows.

Because we are on a shared well, I installed a drip irrigation system that works on a timer and uses very little water. To keep the moisture in the ground, I mulched extensively, using many different mediums. Near the bottom of the garden I built little rockeries using the broken granite I unearthed while planting and used a combination of drain rock and pea gravel to mulch behind them. Farther up, I used mostly bark mulch on top of fish compost.

In the beginning the work seemed endless, but five years later it has paid off. Things are filling in nicely and need very little maintenance – just a little weeding now and then. The brilliant autumn colours of the liquidambar and Japanese maple contrast beautifully with the golden locust, as do the cotoneasters when they turn deep red. In the winter, the grass plumes toss in the wind and look exquisite with frost or light snow lacing them. Late winter sees the witch hazels and early heathers blooming. There isn't a season where there isn't something of interest to catch the eye.
Marg Taylor, Quadra Island

Click here for the Winner's page.

Click here for the honourable mentions.