Gardener on the water
Homeowner works from an inflatable kayak to get property ready for Sooke Secret Garden Tour
Most gardeners find it challenging enough to keep their lawns mowed, hedges trimmed, shrubs pruned and beds weeded while standing on terra firma. Bill Trebish has an extra challenge, as he often gardens from a boat on the sixhectare property he and partner Parri Ulrich purchased last September.
When trimming rhodos, azaleas and other foliage that overhangs their large pond, he kneels in an inflatable kayak and paddles round the water while wielding pruners and long-handled loppers.
“It looks like fun, and it is for a while,” Trebish said with a chuckle. But leaning over the edge of the boat to shape vigorously growing plants is tiring. “I pulled eight wheelbarrows of stuff out of there in the last few days, and from the island in the middle of our pond.”
The boat, a Christmas gift from Ulrich’s eldest son, hasn’t yet come to symbolize relaxed afternoons afloat. Both Trebish and Ulrich are busy in their garden these days, preparing for the Sooke Secret Garden Tour, which takes place June 7 to raise money for the local orchestra.
The new owners agreed to open their property, as it has been beautifully cared for and was so artistically designed.
“I fell in love with it when I first saw it,” said Ulrich, who stayed there when it was a B&B operated by the previous owners, a business she and her husband have continued.
“I had come here for training in the months of February and April and even then I could see the beauty and feel the presence that was here.”
‘The garden is absolutely gorgeous: very private and peaceful. It’s an amazing place to be still with your thoughts,” said Ulrich, who specializes in alternative healing, craniosacral therapy and hypnotherapy.
“When I walk outside here, the energetics are immense and healing — anything incongruent with that fades away immediately. You can’t carry around any sadness or anger in this garden,” she said, adding the water feature calms the senses and attracts birds, including golden eagles and owls.
The variations of colour are wonderful, Trebish said.
“We haven’t been here a full year yet, so we still haven’t seen everything that blooms here. It is constantly changing.
“We look out and think we need a little colour over there, and then two weeks later, boom, there’s colour. Every day something new is happening. Plants that were green yesterday are now bursting with colour.”
They are amazed at how things grow here compared to their former home in Grand Prairie, in northwest Alberta, where the climate borders on sub-arctic and winters are cold, while summers are cool to warm.
“I used to buy little heather plants from a local garden centre back home, because my daughter’s name is Heather, and I couldn’t even grow them in the house,” said Ulrich, who now has a bank of heather all along a driveway.
Ulrich said her mother, who worked in a garden centre for years in Grand Prairie, has given them tips and artworks, and arrived last week to help them prepare for the tour.
They can use the help because the property is huge.
“We have 3.5 acres in the front dedicated to gardens and orchard, and 6.5 acres behind the house backing onto Metchosin forest,” said Ulrich, adding the orchard includes apple, plum and quince trees, as well as grapes, kiwi and an abundance of blackberry bushes.
“It was really well done over the years and we have much to thank the previous owners, Lyall and Sally Markham, for.
“They did a remarkable job of incorporating nature and accenting the property with things from the English countryside, such as rows and rows of heather. They planted a lot of different varieties of trees, shrubs and irises, as well as hydrangeas, azaleas, ferns, cornflowers, peonies and much, much more.”
The home itself is reminiscent of an English country house “and is incredibly well built” said Trebish. “It was designed by an architect as a large family home and all the finishing was beautifully done and hand-crafted.”
It has three spare bedrooms in the main house, and a cottage —which comes in handy when offspring come to visit. The couple has a blended family of five children, ages 12 to 22.
The owners also appreciate the efforts of their committed gardener, Janice Sobie, who comes once a week and has tended the property and helped create it for 15 years.
Trebish, who has a food-and-beverage background, said moving to Sooke and buying the B&B has been a big transition.
“It can be overwhelming at times, but we take it one step at the time. Living on a property like this, you know there is always something to be done. It’s a work in progress.
“We took a leap of faith.”