“It’s important to have secret paths,” says Frances Ford, retiree and secret gardener. “It’s what gardens are all about: surprises!”
Halifax has many lush and productive gardens in unexpected places; their presence is a surprise in the midst of concrete and noise.
All of these gardens can be noticed by chance, whether cued by red poppies sticking their heads through a fence, accidentally noticing the colour purple at the edge of a parking lot, or glimpsing an image of rare beauty in the next yard at a party.
Tom and Frances Ford’s “secret garden” is off of Ochterloney Street in Dartmouth on a quiet, one-way lane. They are a sweet, retired couple who live in a yellow Victorian house. With more time on their hands between them, Frances created an old-fashioned, English country garden. What she describes as an unkempt garden—and others describe as stunning—sprawls over two generous lots, and is a sunny, joy-filled space.
Frances is a self-taught gardener with a passion for growing climbing vines and flowering clematis, poppies of many varieties, three-foot high turquoise-blue delphiniums, thriving pink Bonica roses (“the rose species of the year in 1987”), pole beans, fruit trees, bee balm, honeysuckle and unbelievable swaths of mauve-pink Japanese anemone.
A humble and grateful gardener with a practical—and whimsical—gardening approach, Frances creates “instant trees” from holes in her yard; she places a concrete building block in the hole, puts strong and tall dead branches into it, and tilts them in differin g directions. On one of her “trees” is a beautiful climbing rose reaching up and out as though it’s been there for decades.
Judy Bartlett’s Chebucto Street garden stands out with a flash of purple flowers growing on what looks like a driftwood fence at the border of a parking lot. Bartlett’s garden is full to the brim with thigh-high ferns, delicate and gorgeous purple-blue hydrangea, bursting rose bushes, tomatoes hanging from the vine, red annuals in planters, potatoes and nasturtiums in a tangle; it is a free spirit’s mini paradise.
Bartlett says she comes from a long line of farmers, and when she moved in, she went straight into the backyard and started ripping up the ground. Her garden is her own private oasis. She isn’t a big talker and she isn’t philosophical about what she does, she simply loves to be in her backyard.
Doug Bamford bought a house on Harris Street in the north end of Halifax in 2000, and his backyard garden combines his love of design, architectural detail, and 17th century European-inspired gardening. His garden has unique and thoughtful touches; he says he was originally inspired by a trip to the Alhambra in southern Spain to make a structured “earthly paradise” in a barren and neglected space.
The garden is a long rectangle flanked on both sides by high raised beds and lined by stately trees. At the far end of the garden is a water feature with a bio-filter made of broken brick, pea stone and aquatic plants including mammoth-sized irises, marsh marigold, and lotus lilies. Goldfish in the rectangular-shaped metal pond supply the plants with more than enough fertilizer—thus the mammoth-sized irises—and provide the lotus with enough heavy nutrients for it to bloom.
Bamford tells me part of the reason lotus flowers are symbolic for the Buddhist religion is because they often live and bloom in cesspools. “A lot of shit is required for true beauty to bloom,” he says.
Bamford has a passion for historic architecture, and pieces of broken spires and other stone remnants are placed in the garden as natural parts of the landscape. His backyard is a million miles from the demolition shop across the street; it’s like an escape to Tuscany.
Jasmine Oore is with us as we tour Bamford’s garden. She is his neighbour, owner of the house next door. After buying it from Bamford three years ago, she was inspired by his gardening, and announced she wanted to plant vegetables—to his horror (though he has since come around). “He’s teaching me how to garden, and I’m teaching him how not to be a garden snob,” Oore says.
While she has done the bulk of the labour, Bamford has provided his designer expertise, and they have created her garden together. The leaning tower of peas and the wooden Eiffel Tower serving as a cucumber trellis are standout features, as are the red granite tiles rescued from the 1801 Hollis Building.
Their side-by-side gardens are a combination of her innocence and his experience. “The more Jazzie enjoys it,” Bamford says, “the more enjoyable it is.”
These gardens peeking out through fences uncover great beauty, care and magic. There are hidden gardens everywhere in this city. Look over the fence the next time you think you see colour peeking out. You’ll be happy you did.
This article appears in Aug 18-24, 2011.