Design team prepares for move to the Village Green
On a sunny mid-May Tuesday morning laughter can be heard from the Creemore Horticultural Society’s temporary garden beds. There, a group of gardeners in their tell tale garb are working away while chatting and cracking jokes.
This is where the Society’s plants have been lying in wait for the move to their new home, either at the new Village Green gardens, or in some lucky person’s home garden.
Volunteers with the Creemore Horticultural Society are beginning to transition plants out of their temporary beds behind the library. After two years of planning and design work the move is nigh.
The plants were moved from the Hort Park before construction of the new Village Green began. In that time the plants have matured and some are not needed in the new beds, so volunteers are busy potting them up for the June 4 plant sale.
The Hort Society is responsible for eight of the new gardens at the Village Green. They have been designed by a five-person team including three master gardeners – Gail Cocker, Christine March and Connie Hunter, with Melissa Doherty and Kathy Meeser.
Some of the plants will be transplanted back to the new gardens but the design team is also bringing in a lot of new material. Cocker said it will be a process, as plantings need to be done at various times, continuing until next spring. “The gardens are large. They are going to be very impactful,” said Cocker. “It will be a real attraction and something to be proud of. We are very honoured to be part of it.”
Cocker, head of the Simcoe County Master Gardeners said the Hort Society’s gardens include two entrance gardens off Mill Street which will be eye catching to draw people in; two large gardens at the back bordering Station on the Green will be ornamental with soft, gentle colours that will provide an elegant backdrop for wedding photos; a shade garden will have some seating where people can relax; a sensory garden will encourage people to smell and touch the foliage to experience plants in a more tactile way; a lily garden will border the stage; and a large pollinator garden will be established at the north end will act as an education space.
It supports the Hort Society’s mission to educate and beautify the community, and practice sustainable planting in their own backyard, said president John Sabiston.
The Hort Society is looking forward to a return to normal this summer. Members will be back at the Creemore Farmers’ Market with the return of their Ask-a- Gardener stand, and they have signed up to man the charity coffee booth.
The Society is also looking for volunteers who are willing to do weekly garden work. Members meet every Tuesday morning at the temporary gardens for some work and camaraderie.
Trina Berlo photo: Tuesday morning Hort Park worker bees, from left: Linda Fieldsend Dermott, Vida Stripinis, Melissa Doherty,Alice Spyrc, Gail Cocker, Joanne Mclachlan (in front), Judi Parker, Janet Monahan, Amanda Evans.
