Nature

squirrels against humans.
Between 25 and 30 bird
feeders dot the garden
space, but these clever
and persistent foragers
regularly carry them away.
A favourite spot to dine
on the tasty niger seeds
is in a gully at the back of
the property.
“Each year I find a new
design of bird feeders that
promises to be squirrel- and raccoonproof.
And each year they fail me,” Brian
chuckles. He says when he retires, he plans
to build the “ultimate” bird feeder to ward
off squirrels and raccoons.
Still, Brian’s bird-feeder research brings
more benefits than drawbacks.
“We have seen fairly rare species for these
parts at our feeders. In winter, blue jays,
nuthatches, cardinals, chickadees and redheaded
and pileated woodpeckers come
regularly to call.”
Summer brings a blaze of colour to the
gardens. Day lilies in a hue of colours are
Jeanette’s favourites. A variety of hostas —
Showy annuals add a splash
of colour to the Berenz
gardens in the summer.
some of today’s
gardening
favourites —
do the job of
adding depth and
substance to the
various clumps of
vegetation.
Jeanette is a fan of “oldfashioned”
annual flowers and she
adds them to her perennial beds. Zinnias,
asters, snapdragons, cleomes and cosmos
are favourites.
“The flowers I remember in my grandmother’s
garden,” she recalls.
Summer on the property means butterflies,
too. While declining numbers of the
spectacular monarch are being reported
across Ontario, there is no shortage of the
beauties in Brian and Jeanette’s gardens.
“We have hundreds of monarchs and swallowtails
all summer,” says Jeanette, who
shoulders much of the garden maintenance
while Brian is still in the workforce.
“The secret of keeping up with the work
is good tools and equipment,” she says.
Her Ryobi trimmer and edger are indispensable
to efficient garden management.
And, with Ontario’s tendency toward dry
summers, the Berenzes are grateful for an
irrigation system that saves hours of work
and effort.
Even with her mechanical helpers,
Jeanette still spends many hours working
in her garden paradise. But, there’s no
begrudging the time spent on her hands
and knees, planting, transplanting and
weeding.
“I don’t belong to a gym so this is a good
workout every day from April to October,”
she says.
The couple welcomes “drop-in” visitors to
their garden but have also taken part in the
Grand Valley Pond and Garden Tour and
the Galt Horticultural Society Garden Tour.
Before leaving the Berenz property, I ask
Brian and Jeanette if their great garden
project is complete. They laugh.
“There’s always room for one more plant,”
Brian, says laughing.
72 GRAND MARCH I APRIL 2016