2007

Beautiful Gardening (Annual)Early Spring (Planning) Spring (Planting)Summer (Growing)Fall (Harvest)Winter (Dreaming)

Hostas and other low-maintenance foliage plants fill the space in front of the century-old, 1½-storey residence, which is sheltered by huge elms and other trees. The dappled shade, however, is not enough to prevent the emergence of roses, daisies, and a host of lilies in their season. Viewed from the spacious screened porch, the verdant, plant-packed garden streams out along either side of a wide, brick herringbone pathway.

A cottage get-away? It might remind you of one, but there is no lake nearby. In just minutes, the owners can be parking their car in downtown Winnipeg. Because this “cottage” is on The Glen, a quiet, tree-shaded lane flanked by well-shaded heritage homes in west St. Boniface. Margaret and Brian Law enjoy the best of both worlds: cottage-like seclusion and city convenience. No opening up and shutting down, no long weekend drives – just the chance to step out every morning into a silent, dew-dropped paradise.

The front walk bisects the yard, with a huge shady bed of ferns on its south side and two smaller beds on the north, ,plus a long bed that wraps around the northeast corner of the yard and separates it from the neighbour’s. The ferns are already verdant by the time tulips punctuate the spring greenery – but the garden is at its peak in mid-July, when Asiatic lilies, daylilies, delphiniums and daisies leap from the beds of hostas in a blaze of glory.

Backed by 15 hosta varieties, and accented by hardy roses, daisies, delphiniums and other summer favourites, the garden’s stars are 25 varieties of daylilies, and 35 to 40 types of lilies. Marg doesn’t remember the names. What she pays attention to are the colours – ranging from pale pink to fire engine red, dark magenta and orange, punctuated by the richest and brightest yellows. Most are large and up-facing, but there are a few down-facers, too, nodding over a neatly-edged strip of lawn.

Time has changed the yard. There was a time, before the strips, when this was a standard front lawn. The Laws’ daughter Tara recalls there was lots of space to run and play and pitch summer tents in the years after the couple bought the property in 1984.

In back, the Laws transformed a hard-surfaced parking area and old garage, which Margaret Law terms a “horrible gravel pit”, into a play area for daughters Krista and Tara, then aged six and three. The garage came down and a deck went up, surrounding a large above-ground swimming pool.

After the girls grew up, the grass and swimming pool were replaced by the current sitting area, which is reached by walking around the north side of the house on coarse gravel mingled with scattered stepping stones.

Passers-by and visitors rave over the front yard, but not everyone gets to see the tiny oasis in the back. Furnished with a seating area and barbecue, the brick courtyard-style area focuses on a small raised pool, surrounded by Tyndall stone, rock and broken concrete. With castor beans, goat’s beard, ligularia and ferns arching over it, and hostas, caladium, calla lilies, and potted begonias around it, the pool provides a hint of the tropics. Brandon pyramidal cedar and mockorange shield the yard from traffic on the lane to the west.

In front, a separate conversion took place over the years as Marg eyed her lawn and nursed visions of more flower beds. “We would go shopping, and when we came home more of the lawn would go,” says Tara. “She had an edger, a pitchfork and a spade and would dig out new sections every time.”
Step by step, Marg created the beds that are now packed with her beloved lilies, plus Parkland and Explorer roses, phlox, cranesbill, rudbeckia, salvia, mallow, annual asters and sweet William, which she edges with impatiens to punch up the colour. She changes the accent colours of the annuals each year. The natural garden has few man-made accents: only a Chinese-clematis-draped street number sign mounted on a pedestal made by Brian, a birdbath and a subtle bunny.

After years of incremental improvements to their property, and with their house then 102 years old, the Laws made a big upgrade investment in 2004. They rebuilt the screened front porch, added a new deck and – dramatically – re-roofed the house in red metal. “Let’s put some pizzaz in this house!” Marg recalls them saying. They also added the wide brick walkway that’s such a signature accent.
It’s easy to find a spot to sit in this garden, and on some summer days, Marg has seen strangers taking a break on one of her rustic benches, enjoying the view. They think it’s a public park. What better compliment could be given to a private city yard?

*Barbara Shewchuk is a journalist living in Lowe Farm.

*Originally published on Manitoba Gardener Beautiful Gardening 2007 issue