If a hungry soul feasts on beauty, then someone sitting in a garden acknowledged by the cultivating yards program can consider their soul fully satiated.
A garden requires patience, love and attention to truly thrive. Every year, the City of St. Albert acknowledges the beautiful landscapes created by homeowners in its Cultivating Front Yards program.
Garden stakes are delivered to botanically beautiful yards to distinguish them within the community. The program recognizes five different categories of yards: artsy, edible, xeriscaped, business and beautiful. We spoke with five people who have received an award in each category for their particular style of landscaping in recent years.
The St. Albert Gazette also recognizes the hard work that goes into landscaping with the Cultivate Front and Back Yards Contest. Pictures and videos of yards can be submitted online and voted for once a day. The submission with the most votes wins a prize (donated from Quality Landscaping Supplies and Hole's Garden Centre). Submissions are accepted from June 2 to July 20. The voting period begins July 21 and ends August 5. To view or submit entries, visit www.stalbertgazette.com
Art in the Front Yard
Helen Rogers is all about creating art. Before she retired, she was an art teacher for Edmonton Public Schools. Now, she's a member of the Visual Arts Studio Association (VASA) and the Sculptors' Association of Alberta. Her current focus is on mosaic sculptures, many of which are placed thoughtfully in her front yard.The pieces of broken tiles, stained glass and jewelry sparkle in the sunlight; colourful sculptures of birds, insects and women stand out amongst the green foliage. Rogers' front yard is simply a continuation of the art gallery inside her home.
"Basically, it's a place for my art and gardening itself I find very relaxing. Gardening lends itself to lots of colour, which compliments what I do," Rogers said.
Near her front step rests a large sculpture of a fly, with pearly wings outstretched and bulging eyes swirling with shiny orange stones. Rogers calls the sculpture Fiona the fly on Van Gogh's wall.
"She's very colourful and Van Gogh is very colourful. Sometimes I wish I could have been a fly on his wall just to see what he thought," she said.
Rogers and her husband have lived at their home on Fair Oaks Drive since 1975. Rogers said she's seen the yards in her neighbourhood transform over the years, encouraged by the cultivating yards program.
"We're the botanical arts city! Why wouldn't you encourage people to plant things, grow gardens and incorporate art into it?"
Edible Front Yard
A large garden bed lies close to the Robertson's house, beneath great bay windows, and two circular plots take up space on the front lawn. Amidst all the flowers grow onions, garlic, swiss chard, beets, kale, cabbage, tomatoes and strawberries – just to name a few."She's out there every morning chasing the rabbits away," Tom Robertson said, pointing toward his wife's vegetable garden in front of their house. His wife, Monica Robertson, said it's quite a chore to maintain her garden but she loves it all the same.
The Robertsons grow their vegetables in the front yard because that's where they get the most sun. Tom said they tried it out several years ago and it seemed to really take off. He said he quite enjoys eating the food his wife grows and prepares.
"My strawberry patch is the most beneficial," Monica said. "They're very tasty. I'm eating them now and I'll eat them 'til it freezes. It's long-lasting."
She mentioned other foods grown in her garden and prepared in her kitchen, such as her kale chips and saskatoon berry pies. Growing vegetables in a front yard isn't exactly typical, but the Cultivating Yards program certainly encourages all types of botanically beautiful yards.
"I know that in Sherwood Park you can't even grow a carrot in your front yard, so I do appreciate that about St. Albert," Monica said.
Xeriscaped Front Yard
A garden landscape that doesn't require a lot of water is perfect for our Alberta climate. Rick van Brice said a xeriscaped front yard is what works the best for him.
van Brice loves to garden, but his front yard doesn't get as much sunshine as his back, so he's taken advantage of low maintenance, drought-tolerant plants and stylish brick designs.
Wide cobblestone steps lead up to the van Brice family home before spanning out into a grand front entrance. The same bricks create a barrier wall on either side of the front yard, holding up the xeriscaped garden bed. Different kinds of juniper stretch out over the rocky garden and potted flowers add a splash of colour.
van Brice said he probably spends about three or four hours in his yard each day, although the back is where most of the action happens.
"I just love doing it, that's all. It's a good time to relax," he said.
Business Front Yard
Sarasota Homes, custom home builders and realty team, have a head office that's the pinnacle of collaboration between residential and commercial buildings. It not only functions as a typical business would, but also looks and feels like a building you could live in.
The business front is well manicured with rolling green grass, potted flowers and aspens spread out along the property. Realtor Kristen Boser said her father's core values strongly influenced the look and feel of the space. Boser's parents founded the company in 1995 and built their current home office in 2007.
"My dad has always – even at our house – had a friendly neighbourhood war of who has the greenest grass. You know how that goes on in neighbourhoods. So that's the philosophy here too," she said.
Boser said equating cleanliness and professionalism is one of her father's core philosophies. She said Sarasota strives to ensure cleanliness in all aspects of their business, so people passing by will perceive the quality of care Sarasota takes.
"You know, when you go to a restaurant and the bathroom isn't clean, then you know what's going on in the kitchen too. It's the same mentality. It's just the pride and the care – if you can show it, it's everywhere. This [front yard] is the best way to show it."
Beautiful Front Yard
Marc Hughes' front yard was the last garden to receive the Best Overall Front Yard Award in 2015. It's easy to see why. His front yard is nearly overflowing with leafy greens and fragrant flowers.
"I've always been interested in gardening, even as a kid. We lived in England for a while and my dad had an allotment garden. It's quite a tradition," Hughes said.
Since he retired at age 55, Hughes has cultivated his gardening hobby by taking the master gardener program at Devonian Gardens (now University of Albert Botanic Garden) and working for a time at Hole's Garden Centre. His knowledge of plants runs deep, although he says it's just a hobby.
Literally hundreds of plants grow all around the Hughes family home. Perennial flowers, raised vegetable gardens, fruit trees, climbing vines, potted succulents, berry bushes – surely any plant you can think of, Hughes is probably growing it.
"My garden isn't a designed garden," Hughes said, adding designed gardens normally have three to five plants of the same type organized in a particular way. "Mine is a lot of different plants, like one of each sort of thing."
Hughes' prized plant is his Bartzella Peony, a plant with large double blossoms that emit a sweet fragrance. He said at one time this breed of peony cost $200 to $300 because of challenges with propagation. Originally he had bought only a small pot, but now the plant stands nearly three feet tall and spouts several charming blossoms. He said perennials, such as his herbaceous peonies, add colour to his yard from spring to fall.
"I do it just for the fun of it," Hughes said.
