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Fields of Dreams By Shannon McKinnon Adam Gibbs Photos

In 2003 on the picturesque back roads of Otonabee-South Monaghan nearPeterborough, Scott Andersen and Susannah Therrien found their countryescape. A small farmhouse and an old tin barn on 50 eclectic acres (20 ha) ofmeadow, forest and wetlands planted a seed in the couple’s fertile imagina-tion that they have been nurturing along ever since.

not necessarily traditional. It has a smallworkshop in it, a dance floor, a mezza-nine with a pool table and big screenTV. It’s more like an entertainmentstable than a barn. We’ve had severalvery successful barn dances there!”

And then there was the garden.From the beginning, Susannah

and Scott enjoyed long walks alonga path winding through their forest,over bridges they’ve built and acrosstheir field. Since the property hadn’tbeen farmed for several decades, thehayfield had reverted to a wildflowermeadow. While walking, the couple

“It was important to us to protectat least a little bit of what was alreadyhere rather than just mowing it alldown and redoing it,” explains Scottof their dramatic makeover.

“We tore the old barn down, re-claimed all the beams and the tin andused them in different parts of thehouse, and then we built a new barn.We’re from the city so the new barn was

This is a view through the stone orchard towards the new barn.

While poppies and yuccas spring up inthe path toward the vegetable gardenthe “dead tree” stands guard.

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was enchanted by the ever-changingseasonal waves of colour.

What Susannah and Scott wit-nessed in the wild was the same for-mula they wanted to repeat in theirflower garden. They turned to Peter-borough’s famed landscaping duoDirk Berghout and Gail Rook for helpin bringing their plans to fruition.They soon discovered they couldn’thave placed their vision in more ca-pable hands.

For over 30 years Dirk Berghouthas operated Berghout Construc-tion and Landscape Contracting inIndian River. For the past 12 years hehas also owned Florabunda Seeds, acompany specializing in heirloomsand wildflowers. Gail has been de-signing, renovating and maintain-ing gardens for well over 20 yearsand runs Gardens by Gail out ofWarsaw. Dirk and Gail have beenteaming up on garden projects for

Blue campanula softens and flows overthe many stone boulders in one of theback gardens.

The inner courtyard provides a shady resting place in the summer.

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almost as long as they’ve both beenin business.

Gail and Dirk filled the gardenwith masses of wildflowers andxeriscape plants that include day-

Here we are looking down the drystreambed planted with dianthus,sedums, lilies and yuccas. (Or asScott would probably write, “Notanother fecking lily!”)

This is the view looking through thegarden towards the back patio doorsframed with two of the many spectacularplanters designed by Scott and Sue.

They planted 700 tulipbulbs that Susannah andScott refer to as a gift theyget to unwrap for threeweeks every springlilies, hostas and sedums. Thenthey planted 700 tulip bulbs thatSusannah and Scott refer to as a giftthey get to unwrap for three weeksevery spring. Each week the tulips

PHONE 705-295-4379 FAX 705-295-4035

contact@fl orabundaseeds.com

D. BERGHOUT CONSTRUCTION

Dirk Berghout

Landscape ContractorResidential | Commercial

1973 Villiers Line,R.R.#1 Indian River,

Ontario K0L 2B0

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envelope the garden in a fresh hazeof colour, moving from red topurple to yellow.

The couple loves the continualsense of movement the changingcolours provide as they usher in thespring season. The sense of move-

ment within the gardens is height-ened by the addition of ornamentalgrasses that mimic the sway of themeadow and animate the entire yardin every breeze.

With demanding jobs and fourchildren between them, Scott andSusannah are grateful to have Gailcontinue to work in the gardens twoto three days a week to keep every-thing maintained, enhanced andevolving. However, they spend asmuch time as possible tending theirgarden, loving every minute of it.

“There’s no watering system so ittakes us three and a half to fourhours just to water everything,” saysSusannah. “We’re on a well so handwatering keeps us aware of our wa-ter use, but we also find it very relax-ing. After a busy week at work it’sthe perfect way to slow down andspend time in the garden. The silenceis wonderful!”

Scott confesses that sometimes heeven sneaks out of his office andmakes the hour drive just to cut thelawn, cutting down his stress as wellas the grass.

The circular vegetable garden melds perfectly into the surrounding landscape.

This view from our favourite balcony(where we view the all-too-short fireflyshow) looks toward our newest creation– the spa-firepit, complete with anoutdoor shower.

The sense of movementwithin the gardens isheightened by theaddition of ornamentalgrasses that mimic thesway of the meadow andanimate the entire yard inevery breeze

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The 400 sq ft (37m2) vegetable gar-den has become a bit of a passion forthe entire family.

“The kids all participate, sort ofunwillingly at first,” laughs Scott.“But they all get into it and findtheir way with what they want tohelp with. And to pull a carrot or aradish out of the ground and eat itwith some of the soil still on it...well, it provides a sense satisfactionand accomplishment.

“You never see anyone without asmile once we get working in the gar-den. And taking vegetables to the of-fice or being able to hand out basketsof fresh produce to friends – that’spretty cool, too.”

Near the vegetable patch stands agorgeous dead tree serving as an ar-chitectural exclamation point. Gailspotted it in a farmer ’s field andknew it would be perfect for Scott and

Susannah’s place. Dirk approachedthe surprised farmer for permissionto haul the tree away.

“I thought it had great bones,would fit in with the southwesternfeel of the place and most importantlyit wouldn’t shade the vegetablepatch,” explains Gail.

“It’s a real focal point and I’mguessing it’s the only time a dead treehas ever been planted! It doesn’t takemuch water. It’s very easy care,”quips Scott.

Another distinctive feature is theirstone orchard – a one-of-a-kind brain-child of Susannah’s. A rectangle ofdry-stacked stones was laid into placeto replicate a time-weathered foun-dation complete with a whimsicalwindow frame in the side, a doorwayat one end and a fireplace in the backwall. Inside half a dozen fruit treesthrive. They include two cherry trees,two pear trees and two apple trees.

At New Year ’s flutes of cham-pagne are lifted in front of a roaringfire in the functioning fireplace andin the summer the space is frequentlyutilized for sanctuary or just hanging

Boulders are used in the landscape both dramatically and functionally. Here theyare used as seating around the fire pit.

A clematis climbs through the windowof Sue’s stone orchard from a perennialgarden below where lavender andRussian sage shade its tender roots.

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out enjoying a glass of Chardonnaywith friends.

Ash planks form a walled spa areacomplete with a hot tub. This areamirrors the southwestern flavour ofthe house. Yuccas and the standingdead tree planted nearby further re-flect this theme.

A rooftop garden offers up the per-fect palette for Susannah to indulgein her love of containers, along withbreathtaking vistas of the gardensand meadows beyond. As stunningas these views are, for three weeks inearly summer insects steal the show.

“Every year starting about mid-June, the entire 50 acres is coveredwith fireflies,” says Susannah. “Forabout three weeks it’s absolutely sen-sational. There are thousands of them.It seems unique to this particularspot. Even people who live in the areasay they have never seen so many.”

“We’ll have dinner parties cen-tered around watching fireflies andthere’s not one person who hasn’tbeen blown away by the nighttimescene,” adds Scott. “It’s a naturalevent that resembles a rock concertwhen people are flicking their light-ers. It’s unique and we look forwardto it every year.”

By Canada Day the fireflies havestarted to fade and the garden re-claims centre stage.

After almost a decade of flowers,fireflies and finishing projects, Scottand Susannah are still brimming withenthusiasm and new ideas.

“The gardens will never be fin-ished and that’s a good thing,” saysScott. “In the beginning I would geta little frustrated at how long thingswere taking to grow and flourish.Then one day Dirk said, ‘Scott, I haveone word for you... patience.’

“In a world where everyone is look-ing for immediate gratification, thatsingle word had a profound effect onme. Dirk nailed it when he said that.Above all, this garden has taught usto slow down and enjoy the journey.”�

The elm affectionately known as the“Broccoli Tree” commands the westernsky at sunset.

The late summer sun illuminates aperennial garden with a view of thenew spa in the distance. Hereconeflowers, achillea, poppies, sagesand barberry set the garden ablaze.

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