Notebook
Pickering’s golden gnomes by Sigrid Squire
tural Society is fortunate in this regard. Over the years, an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust has been nurtured by both sides. In order to enhance the beautification of Pickering’s
A
streetscape, the City of Pickering initiated the Pickering Blooms Garden Showcase a few years ago. Our society was
re you lucky enough to have a good working relation- ship with your municipality? The Pickering Horticul-
The coveted Golden Gnome award.
Award” was announced and three of six golden gnomes magically appeared. As you can see, in Picker-
ing we have a win-win situ- ation; a win for our society in that we get the opportu- nity to strut our stuff and a win for the City in getting dedicated
and knowledge-
able gardeners to help keep Pickering beautiful.
Judy’s tip for gardeners I thought this simple (funny) thing that I do
Pictured here with their Golden Gnome awards are Silke Schick, Karen Bardeau, City of Pickering Councillor Doug Dickerson, and Sigrid Squire. With the exception of Councillor Dickerson, they are all members of the Pickering Horticultural Society.
pleased to be asked to be an active partner in this program. This is not your typical garden competition with only a small number of winners. We do not judge – we mentor. Residents are asked to register in one of
three categories: Budding
Garden if they would like advice about improving their front gardens; Established Garden if they are pleased with their gardens and would like to hear what other gardeners think; (participants in this category are eligible to receive the coveted ‘Garden of Distinction’ designation); Blooming Garden just to show support for the program but do not want to have their gardens assessed. In July of each year, 14 to 16 members of our society get to
work. We view the gardens and then write reports, either full of advice or full of admiration. Viewing and reporting usual- ly take eight hours or more per team member. City staff then pass those reports on to the registrants who have increased in number and enthusiasm. In 2012, the City decided that the mentors who had done
this for five years or more deserved special recognition at the Garden of Distinction awards event. All this was kept top secret. You can probably imagine the surprise for the mentors and the hilarity of the audience when the “Golden Gnome
4 SUMMER 2013
www.localgardener.net
might be of interest for your readers: When I am digging in the garden and have
very dirty, muddy gloves, instead of putting them to dry, I leave them on my hands and, using lots of soap, I wash them as if I were washing my dirty hands. Then I rinse them and hang them to dry. I use 2 pairs of soft pliable leather gloves so I always have a clean, dry pair and my gloves last longer. Perhaps other people do this but I never thought of it before.
— Judy Eberspaecher
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