Welcome to Wunderland
15 years ago, Tom Wunder bought a rural property with limited landscaping; then he learned to garden
A ROW OF COLOURFUL flowers planted along the page-wire fence in front of Tom Wunder’s country property is the only hint of the paradise hidden from view by a dense stand of maple trees.
But travel down the long gravel path that winds its way through the trees, and you’ll find Wunder’s house surrounded by lush >>
>> lawns, ample flower beds, a two-acre pond and a waterfall.
No matter which way you turn, your gaze will take in a profusion of flower beds filled with annuals, perennials, shrubs and statuary. It’s easy to see why Wunder’s friends have dubbed his Baden-area retirement property “Wunderland.”
The flower beds overflow with hostas, Asiatic lilies, daylilies, roses, chrysanthemums, sedum and heucheura. Interspersed among the perennials and shrubs, annual flowers like cosmos, zinnia, petunias, impatiens and marigolds provide continuous colour from spring through fall.
Dahlias crown the flower beds with their masses of showy blooms from mid-summer >>
>> until the first hard frost. Wunder lifts these tender bulbs every year and stores them in his cellar to be replanted the following spring.
And amid all the trees, shrubs and flowers are dozens of statues like Homer the dog. “I call him Homer because he never leaves home,” says Wunder with a chuckle.
The 200-pound concrete dog, which was a gift, stands guard over the property as you emerge from the wooded driveway.
Other statues — from small to large, whimsical to classical and cheap to expensive — provide year-round interest.
Annual flowers and tender begonias spill out of urns and hanging baskets at every turn.
Cheery impatiens brighten the shady driveway that leads to the barn. “We plant 50 to 60 flats of impatiens every spring,” says Wunder.
Wunder makes the rounds of the various area garden centres to buy plants, solar lights and other items for the garden, shopping carefully to get the best deals. In the years in which he bought a lot of shrubs and trees, he has spent as much as $6,000 on plants.
“I buy anything that strikes my fancy,” he says.
It’s hard to believe that these gardens didn’t exist 15 years ago.
When Wunder, former owner of Apex Metals Inc. in Kitchener, bought the 10hectare (25-acre) property in 1998, there was very little in the way of flower beds on the property. The previous owners used the 10-stall barn and indoor riding arena to train and show horses. >>