Home & Garden: Surprise around every corner
“I love my gardens,” says Bev Stableforth. “They are cathartic.”
When she moved to her home on Elizabeth Street West 25 years ago, there were no gardens. Now, there is only a small patch of grass, the entire yard surrounding the red brick Victorian home with white gingerbread trim is planted with a variety of trees, shrubs, perennials, herbs and vegetables. The yard is furnished with a number of comfy sitting areas and dotted with rustic lawn ornaments and bird feeders.
Stableforth and her late husband Ted had sold their 25-acre property in Mulmur and moved into the village.
As an artist, she says she saw a lot of potential in the blank canvas.
Stableforth, a potter and painter, has had a career combining education and art. She said she has always worked with children, having taught youth poetry classes for the Toronto Arts Council, and arts programs in schools. She volunteered at the local schools for many years before becoming an educational assistant. She worked at Nottawasaga and Creemore Public School for 23 years, and still plans on doing supply teaching.
Stableforth had a vision for her new creation but it changed when an old maple tree had to be taken down, bringing the shade garden into the light.
“That is the thing about gardens,” she says, “They are always in flux. They are constantly evolving. I always say, a garden that is finished is dead.”
Stableforth describes it as “a tangled garden.” Pathways of gravel and river rock wind through the fenced yard, between the dense growth. Stableforth has designed it so there is a surprise around every corner, an unexpected feature like an active bird feeder mounted on a stump or a bench beside a fishpond intended for quiet reflection.
“The garden has to be interactive,” she says. “You build up the layers. It’s like a painting.”
While the garden was once her muse and inspired her to do a lot of en plain air painting, she is now more inspired by the lakes of cottage country.
Following the English gardening tradition, Stableforth has opted for stone over grass.
“Your garden paths should flow like a river,” says Stableforth adding that she then uses plants to soften the landscape, allowing them to cascade over the rocks.
The fence is lined with an espalier, which produces 10 varieties of apples on one tree (most of which are snatched up by the resident squirrels), hops, kiwi, bittersweet and grapes.
The raised beds are seeded with kale, onions, lettuce, and a rotation of herbs and veggies.
She describes it as a sensory experience – the aromas of plants, and seeing the socialization of the insects.
“For me it’s about sound too – the wind in the leaves and the rain falling on the stone.”
“I’m not happy unless I’ve got dirt under my fingernails,” she says. “I think it really does ground me. You become one with nature… I always feel like I’m a caretaker of nature when I’m out in the garden.”
She says a patient gardener is rewarded with avoiding frost and sale prices at the nursery.
“I am not a patient gardener,” says Stableforth with a laugh.
Although impatient to get going each spring, there is a feeling of Zen once she does.
“You can’t control what goes on in your garden, you can only nurture it,” says Stableforth.
And there is a sense of spirituality as well.
Stableforth says she can see glints of Ted when she sees a cardinal flitting about.
“You can see how things are connected,” she says.
She feels the weight of climate change in her own little pocket of nature, noticing that there aren’t as many butterflies and birds as there once was.
But she feels hopeful, especially when she sees people planting more pollinator plants, and she shares her knowledge with her grandchildren as they spend time together in the garden.
“As an educator, I’m hopeful for the next generation,” she says.
Creemore Garden Tour
This year’s Creemore Garden Tour, organized by the Vorstermanses, is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 19-20.
The gardens of Paul and Charlotte Vorstermans, located at the corner of Mill and Edward Streets, has evolved over more than 25 years into a series of seven garden “rooms” that cover most of their half acre lot. Charlotte is the master gardener and Paul designs the hardscape. The Vorstermanses’ garden is located at 113 Mill St.
Three other open gardens include: Jaki Skillings’ “Delightful whimsy” at 17 Elizabeth St. W., Bev Stableforth’s winding paths at 3 Elizabeth St. W.; and Grandmother’s Garden, next to Creemore Log Cabin and North America’s smallest jail, 165 Library St.
Free admission. For more information visit www.creemoregarden.ca.
The Vorstermanses are looking to add more gardens to the tour. To participate, contact paul45@rogers.com.
