The garden of Earl and Karen Lehmann in Midway is a delight that should he listed on next year’s gallery 2 Boundary Garden Tour.
According to Earl, their back yard was once the vegetable garden of Fred and Irene Evdokimoff, which produced “the best borscht in the Boundary”.
The Lehmanns began working on their garden five years ago at their 555 9th Avenue property. The first step being removal of all that precious topsoil from the area where the water feature pond now sits.
All that beautiful dirt went to the garden beds surrounding the pond. Still a work in progress and always a labour of love, the garden now has lights providing nighttime ambiance. There is a bottle tree adding a whimsical note, a small three-sided cabin that will have a sod roof that will provide cool shade is now under construction, and much more.
The pond currently holds goldfish and Earl is anxious to see if they can overwinter – if so then he will move up to Koi.
Looking at the rock features now in the garden, it seems remarkable that there was not a single rock on the property when they began the project.
This is the second full garden the Lehmanns have made, in addition to a water feature in Chilliwack.
The deck behind the Lehmann house has several bananas growing in pots, which Earl is able to cultivate by taking them into his greenhouse each winter. In fact just about everything you see in the garden is taken in during the cold months.
Earl wants to share his garden. “Anybody who would like to come and have a look is most welcome,” he said. “There are seats for people to pause and rest. This is a place of peace and quiet where people can relax – they can see that even in the middle of the desert you can find a green spot where you can sit down and relax.”
Earl explains that is why the sign hanging over the front door of their house reads “Welcome.”
“Our garden is open for everybody to come and enjoy,” said Earl. “If someone wants to have a birthday party here or a wedding, fine I have no problem. Just give us a call (250-449-2279) and we can arrange things.”
Though Earl has put a lot of time and talent into his garden he says it’s not the best that Midway has to offer. For that he points to two yards a few blocks away – that of Willy Kakuno (where Earl got many cuttings for his own garden) and Willy’s next-door neighbours, the Goughs.