It’s not at all unusual for gardeners to grow old and discover they are unable to take care of their garden as well as they would like.
It’s a sad but common eventuality. And what often happens is that such gardens – even very beautiful ones that have taken years and years to build – are invariably allowed to decline and quickly fall into neglect and disrepair.
Many gardeners faced with this prospect look for someone to buy their property and take over the garden and thereby guarantee its longevity.
Unfortunately, this rarely happens.
In some very special cases, the local municipality may have offered to take on the garden and maintain it as a park. But usually this is dependent on the owner donating the property as a gift.
In Victoria right now my friend, Rob Cannings, and his wife Joan, are facing the dilemma I describe above and are hoping someone will buy their lovely Oak Bay home which comes with a fabulous garden.
“In May we will likely be putting our house on the market, asking around $1.4 m,” says Rob.
“ It occurred to us that you may know some avid gardeners in Vancouver who are planning to move to Victoria and searching for a house.
“We both feel well enough to do all the garden work right now but we want to downsize before the garden becomes a problem.
“You know how hard it is to just let a garden go and, at $40 – $45/hr. for a gardener, we just cannot afford to pay for the upkeep.”
Their house, built in 1952, has three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a total of 2,144 square feet.
The sloping lot is 10,019 square feet, some of which features “long distance westerly water/downtown views.”
The garden is beautifully fenced to protect it from deer. It contains mature wisteria and grapes; three ponds and streams; many mature plants, including magnolias, Japanese maples; rhododendrons and azaleas and all sorts of evergreens, ornamental grasses and perennials.
The garden also has a courtyard, some paths and pergola with rustic brick paving.
As for the house, Rob says “we have done regular maintenance to keep the house in good shape but we think that it is time for a new kitchen and master bath.
“Our real estate agent, Rick Allen, of Newport Realty, has advised us to leave the house as is since many new owners want to do their own custom design. “
Rob Cannings is a dragonfly expert who worked as the Curator of Entomology at the Royal British Columbia Museum for more than 30 years and managed the Natural History section from 1987 to 1996.
Last year, he published a new Field Guide to Insects of the Pacific Northwest, a glossy pamphlet with lots of colour photos of various insects and includes a short, easily-digestible paragraph on the insect featured.
“It is unlikely that you know of anyone who might be interested,” says Rob, “but you are in contact with more gardeners than anyone else in the province!”
Who knows. Perhaps here is a garden that will ultimately be saved from the bulldozer.
