The Shaw Guild's annual Garden Tour is an opportunity for guests to visit gardens around the town and gain new horticultural knowledge.
Each stop on the self-guided tour was staffed by a certified, trained gardener, known among horticulturists, who was available to help visitors learn about each species on display and answer questions about gardening in general.
But being a great gardener takes more than just knowing about horticulture.
Master Gardener Marie-Claire Glucks of 158 Prideau St. said she had to complete a program at the University of Guelph to become certified.
In Guelph, you must complete three courses in addition to the required number of volunteer hours to become certified.
During the garden tour, Glucks’ role included identifying 20 interesting plants on the grounds and answering guests’ questions.
“What I really love about this property is that there is a natural architectural expression of Mother Nature within the plant structure,” Grull told Lake Report.
Mr Grull's expertise inspired Debbie Charlton, a hobby gardener visiting from Keswick.
Charlton heard about the Master Gardener certification program and discussed with Glucks how he could get involved.
“I was first introduced to gardening when I was growing up in Toronto. I had Italian neighbours and their gardens were just amazing,” Charlton said in an interview.
Right now, she’s focused on learning more about native plants and native wildlife (animals and insects that can be cultivated), where the certification will come in handy.
At 380 Johnson Street, homeowner Ian Rees worked closely with Master Gardener Linda Wade to select the perfect plants for his garden.
“(Master gardeners) did it all,” Reese said. “They came in a few months ago.”
“I keep all my plants in an Excel spreadsheet, so I gave them that version of everything here and they worked with it.”
He adds that he records all his plants by their Latin names, which makes it a bit difficult.
During Lake Report's visit, people repeatedly stopped the Master Gardener to ask about the care of particular plants and expressed great interest in some of the garden's eye-catching features.
“We only had to choose 20 things to put little signs on. It was a tough choice,” Reese said.
Other stops on Saturday's tour included 135 Centre St., 210 Centre St., 343 Regent St. and 112 Delatore St. in Old Town, 56 Princess St. in Queenston and 14956 Niagara Pkwy.
Julia Sacco
