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Garden tour celebrates a love for the hobby

Six local gardeners had their yards on display for others in the community to see during the annual Estevan garden tour on Wednesday night.
Garden Tour
Local gardeners enjoyed a visit to the home of Audrey Schlamp and other residences in the city during the Garden Tour.

Six local gardeners had their yards on display for others in the community to see during the annual Estevan garden tour on Wednesday night.

Gale Tytlandsivk organized the tour as a celebration of gardening in Estevan and as a fundraiser for the Garden Park on Fourth, which she maintains. The 20 people who took the tour met at the Garden Park and then crisscrossed the community, marvelling at the efforts of people who love to garden.

Tytlandsvik didn’t give out the names of the six people they visited, but she did note that some of them were part of the garden club that used to meet in the city. Three of the residences have been part of the tour in the past, and three were on the garden tour for the first time.

“Some of them I knew from the garden club, and then I asked for recommendations on Facebook, and so I ended up with some other people,” said Tytlandsvik.

The yards that were selected have a lot of flowers and a lot of landscaping, she said, but they’re also unique in their own ways.

“I tried to pick ones that have completely different themes, and this year we made a point to come while the lilies and the day lilies were blooming, because we missed those the last two times,” said Tytlandsvik.

The last two tours have taken place later in the summer, and have featured a lot of annuals.

Tytlandsvik described gardening as a labour of love, and it takes a lot of time and work.

One of the yards that people visited was that of Audrey Schlamp. She moved into her home on Sixth Avenue in 1995, and all that could be found were the house, driveway, lawn and fence. 

But Schlamp had a vision for her home, with the trees, flowers, garden and archway.

“This was weeds and grass,” she recalled. “There was an old wire fence, and if it weren’t for the weeds and grass, the fence wouldn’t have even stood up.”

The tree struggled to grow at first, but now Schlamp piles all her bags of leaves underneath it every year so that the roots stay strong.

A variety of flowers now grow on her land, with marigolds, petunias, lilies, irises and potentillas.

Another highlight is a greenhouse, which used to belong to her parents and was moved from Grenfell. It now doubles as her “summer cottage.”

“I can sit in here all summer,” said Schlamp. 

Most of her time spent in the yard comes during the morning, since it gets humid in the afternoon.

Schlamp said she loves to see how her garden is constantly evolving.

“There’s something new every day to see,” Schlamp. “It’s just like a miracle. Every day you come out and you see something different.”

Schlamp still cuts the grass and does all of her own yard work.

People have taken notice as well. Occasionally a motorist will slow down to tell her she has a beautiful yard, a compliment she readily accepts.

The garden tour was held despite the threat of an evening thunderstorm on Wednesday night. Participants were able to get to all six gardens, but the possible storm left them with 20 people as opposed to the original plan of 40.

Money raised through the tour will be used to cover such costs as fertilizer, the addition of crushed rock and the general upkeep of the Garden Park on Fourth.