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MAGRAND16%20Berenz
MAGRAND16%20Berenz
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GARDENS G<br />
Brian and Jeanette Berenz<br />
have transformed<br />
a one-time farm<br />
in North Dumfries into<br />
a garden paradise<br />
<strong>Nature</strong><br />
Back to<br />
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By Nancy Silcox<br />
Photography • Jesse Brenneman<br />
When Brian and Jeanette<br />
Berenz looked to build<br />
their dream home,<br />
there was one key<br />
criterion for the property it would sit on.<br />
“It had to be a country property that<br />
would give us the space and landscape to<br />
develop the kind of gardens we’ve always<br />
wanted,” says Jeanette, a retired teacher.<br />
Not that the couple hadn’t gardened at<br />
their previous homes. But this time, they<br />
wanted the opportunity to indulge fully in<br />
their passion for all things green.<br />
They found just what they were looking<br />
for in North Dumfries Township, abutting<br />
the Grand River Conservation Authority.<br />
Prior to residential development, the<br />
land had supported a farm, with much<br />
of the acreage in pasture. The Berenz’s<br />
1.2-hectare property also sloped down 152<br />
metres to the river.<br />
“As soon as we saw it, we knew we<br />
had found what we were looking for,”<br />
says Brian, who is co-owner and sales<br />
manager of Annadale Finishing Systems in<br />
Cambridge.<br />
“We knew that it would be a tremendous<br />
amount of work developing the expanse of<br />
gardens we wanted,” Jeanette says. “But it<br />
would be the labour of love we’d been so<br />
long looking for.”<br />
But first things first — a house that<br />
would maximize the view of the gardensin-waiting.<br />
“I have an eye for design and incorporated<br />
large picture windows across the back of<br />
the home to give maximum view of the<br />
property,” says Jeanette.<br />
In 1997, the Berenzes’ house was<br />
complete and the couple took up<br />
‘We had certain things<br />
on our wish list,’ says Brian<br />
Berenz. ‘A natural pond,<br />
a minimum of grass<br />
cutting and plant species,<br />
which attracted wildlife’<br />
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To keep the lawn to a minimum, the<br />
couple relied on the<br />
horticultural philosophy of<br />
‘clumping’ to add perspective<br />
to their gardens.<br />
Brian and Jeanette Berenz sit in their garden with their two Australian Labradoodles, Puddles, on left, and<br />
Patches. Susan Peister of Gardens of Grandeur in Cambridge helped the couple create a plan for the gardens.<br />
They had a few things on their wish list, including a natural pond and plants that attract wildlife.<br />
residence. “We couldn’t wait to get started<br />
on the gardens,” Jeanette says.<br />
The couple recruited landscape architect<br />
Susan Peister of Gardens of Grandeur in<br />
Cambridge to help create a to-scale draft<br />
plan of the gardens.<br />
“We had certain things on our wish list,”<br />
says Brian. “A natural pond, a minimum<br />
of grass cutting and plant species, which<br />
attracted wildlife.”<br />
To keep the lawn to a minimum, the<br />
couple followed the horticultural philosophy<br />
of “clumping” to add perspective to<br />
their gardens.<br />
Frederick Law Olmsted Sr., the historical<br />
“dean” of landscape architecture who<br />
designed the expansive gardens of New<br />
York’s Central Park as well as those of<br />
Mount Royal Park in Montreal, was<br />
credited with the concept of using winding<br />
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24 Hour Emergency Service<br />
Jeanette and Brian Berenz say their home is ‘a<br />
four-seasons property.’ While each season shows off<br />
its particular horticultural stars, spring is the most<br />
anticipated season.<br />
pathways of crushed stone or grass to lead<br />
from one clump of vegetation to another.<br />
Olmsted’s clumping configuration is an<br />
integral style component of the Berenzes’<br />
garden. Flowers provide the splashes of<br />
colour in the clumping configuration, with<br />
trees and shrubs providing a dynamic<br />
perspective.<br />
“For the trees, Susan suggested lots of<br />
white-barked birches as contrast to the<br />
deep green of the conifers,” says Jeanette.<br />
The brilliant hues of shrubs, like burning<br />
bush, would provide high contrast to the<br />
subtle tree foliage.<br />
Attracting wildlife was a key element in<br />
the couple’s plans as well.<br />
“It was important to Brian and I that our<br />
outdoor space wasn’t just pleasing to<br />
look at but that it was a welcoming place<br />
for nature — birds, butterflies and small<br />
mammals like squirrels and rabbits.”<br />
And no garden sanctuary worth its salt<br />
could be without a naturalized pond.<br />
Brian was in charge here. Dug out of a<br />
recessed portion of the property, the water<br />
feature measures about 14 by 20 metres<br />
and is nearly two metres deep in the<br />
middle.<br />
“It took a few years before it stopped<br />
looking like a swimming pool,” laughs<br />
Jeanette, “but it eventually became<br />
naturalized.”<br />
The pond uses only a natural filtration<br />
system, with no chemicals added.<br />
“In the spring, I just sprinkle in a natural<br />
powder, which eats the algae,” says Brain.<br />
“And after that, I let nature take its course.”<br />
The pond is home to a number of showy<br />
shubunkin goldfish and Francis the<br />
snapping turtle. Green and blue herons<br />
and kingfishers stop by the pond on a<br />
regular basis, too.<br />
Jeanette and Brian call their home “a<br />
four-seasons property.” While each<br />
season shows off its particular<br />
horticultural stars, spring is the most<br />
anticipated season.<br />
Jeanette has planted hundreds of<br />
daffodils on the front and side lawns of<br />
their property and, by the end of April,<br />
the property is a sea of yellow.<br />
“No tulips though,” says Jeanette. “The<br />
deer love tulips and I’d be planting and<br />
replanting them every year.”<br />
Fall and winter provide less show in the<br />
gardens but more animal activity.<br />
“We have a flock of between 20 and 25<br />
wild turkeys that visit us regularly,” says<br />
Brian. Conveniently, the turkeys make<br />
paths in the snow that humans can follow<br />
on a winter stroll.<br />
The welcoming feeling for deer visitors<br />
is offset by the nibbling they do at their<br />
favourite shrubs.<br />
“The deer particularly like to trim the<br />
Japanese cedars,” says Brian. But, he adds<br />
good-naturedly, “if you are going invite<br />
nature to your door, you have to expect<br />
what nature naturally does.”<br />
However, he is less philosophical about<br />
the eternal pitting of wily raccoons and<br />
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70 GRAND MARCH I APRIL 2016 MARCH I APRIL 2016 GRAND 71
squirrels against humans.<br />
Between 25 and 30 bird<br />
feeders dot the garden<br />
space, but these clever<br />
and persistent foragers<br />
regularly carry them away.<br />
A favourite spot to dine<br />
on the tasty niger seeds<br />
is in a gully at the back of<br />
the property.<br />
“Each year I find a new<br />
design of bird feeders that<br />
promises to be squirrel- and raccoonproof.<br />
And each year they fail me,” Brian<br />
chuckles. He says when he retires, he plans<br />
to build the “ultimate” bird feeder to ward<br />
off squirrels and raccoons.<br />
Still, Brian’s bird-feeder research brings<br />
more benefits than drawbacks.<br />
“We have seen fairly rare species for these<br />
parts at our feeders. In winter, blue jays,<br />
nuthatches, cardinals, chickadees and redheaded<br />
and pileated woodpeckers come<br />
regularly to call.”<br />
Summer brings a blaze of colour to the<br />
gardens. Day lilies in a hue of colours are<br />
Jeanette’s favourites. A variety of hostas —<br />
Showy annuals add a splash<br />
of colour to the Berenz<br />
gardens in the summer.<br />
some of today’s<br />
gardening<br />
favourites —<br />
do the job of<br />
adding depth and<br />
substance to the<br />
various clumps of<br />
vegetation.<br />
Jeanette is a fan of “oldfashioned”<br />
annual flowers and she<br />
adds them to her perennial beds. Zinnias,<br />
asters, snapdragons, cleomes and cosmos<br />
are favourites.<br />
“The flowers I remember in my grandmother’s<br />
garden,” she recalls.<br />
Summer on the property means butterflies,<br />
too. While declining numbers of the<br />
spectacular monarch are being reported<br />
across Ontario, there is no shortage of the<br />
beauties in Brian and Jeanette’s gardens.<br />
“We have hundreds of monarchs and swallowtails<br />
all summer,” says Jeanette, who<br />
shoulders much of the garden maintenance<br />
while Brian is still in the workforce.<br />
“The secret of keeping up with the work<br />
is good tools and equipment,” she says.<br />
Her Ryobi trimmer and edger are indispensable<br />
to efficient garden management.<br />
And, with Ontario’s tendency toward dry<br />
summers, the Berenzes are grateful for an<br />
irrigation system that saves hours of work<br />
and effort.<br />
Even with her mechanical helpers,<br />
Jeanette still spends many hours working<br />
in her garden paradise. But, there’s no<br />
begrudging the time spent on her hands<br />
and knees, planting, transplanting and<br />
weeding.<br />
“I don’t belong to a gym so this is a good<br />
workout every day from April to October,”<br />
she says.<br />
The couple welcomes “drop-in” visitors to<br />
their garden but have also taken part in the<br />
Grand Valley Pond and Garden Tour and<br />
the Galt Horticultural Society Garden Tour.<br />
Before leaving the Berenz property, I ask<br />
Brian and Jeanette if their great garden<br />
project is complete. They laugh.<br />
“There’s always room for one more plant,”<br />
Brian, says laughing.<br />
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