NURTURING HOPE
Brian Gable, from left, and Sylva Jurney give a sneak peek of their colourful garden to Maureen Mcpherson of Nest Saskatoon ahead of Sunday’s Nest Secret Garden Tour. The annual event is a fundraiser for the refugee sponsorship and settlement group.
Sylva Jurney and Brian Gable’s garden really began with wanting a “180 degree wow.”
In April 2014, they knew their yard needed an upgrade, and they decided to hire someone to do the work, Jurney said.
Now, the garden hosts a variety of hostas and hydrangeas, showcasing the greens and whites both Jurney and Gable like. The colours go nicely with the yellow of the house, and they accent everything with red — like the candy-apple red colour of their doors.
They enjoy the garden together, but Gable is the main person who takes care of it.
“It’s a little bit of my passion. But it’s easy work, which is what’s so nice,” he said. “I basically like to spend somewhere between an hour and two hours a day just walking, doing a little of this, a little of that, turning the mulch periodically. I take it on as my baby.”
Their garden will be one of eight featured this year in the ninth annual Nest Secret Garden Tour, a fundraiser for refugee sponsorship and settlement group Nest Saskatoon. Passports for the selfguided tour must be purchased in advance, and are available for $20 each at Anthology on 20th Street West, Dutch Growers on Central Avenue and Attridge Drive, and the Mcnally Robinson Book Store on Eighth Street.
Maureen Mcpherson of Nest Saskatoon said the idea for the Secret Garden Tour came from a similar event in Regina.
“We were looking for a fundraising idea, and we thought having a secret garden tour might be a really good idea,” she said.
“People see a beautiful front yard, and I think we all wonder then what the backyard looks like — so we decided we would give this a try.”
The tour will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, rain or shine. Mcpherson said they try to keep all of the gardens around the same parts of the city, focusing on one or two areas each year.
“It’s an excellent fundraiser for us, and we also feel that it’s a bit of an awareness activity too, to let people know about the importance of refugee sponsorship and settlement and just what a benefit these new Canadians are to our country.”
It’s an excellent fundraiser for us, and we also feel that it’s a bitofanawareness activity too, to let people know about the importance of refugee sponsorship and settlement.