Sprucewold Column: Nice gardens

Tue, 07/16/2019 - 12:00pm

Everyone comes to Sprucewold to relax and stay cool during the summer. Besides boating, swimming, walking, hiking and cottage upkeep. All of us find different ways to relax but one predominant way seems to be gardening. I am most familiar with the gardening efforts along Birch, Beach and Nahanada roads and I am sure there are others tucked away in other parts of Sprucewold that I have not seen. So, after reading this, please advise if you have gardening activities and I will include you in a subsequent column.

On Nahanada, Karen Young has quite a large garden to the west side of the house and seems to spend lots of time there. Nahanada Park certainly falls in this category so look for a notice shortly about a voluntary work party to take care of the weeds that are cropping up. The Parish’s have small gardens spotted around their house while Sheila Yaeger next door battles a significant amount of shade and has adapted to using plants that can tolerate the shade. Where spots of sun break through the pines, lilies and other perennials liven up the garden. Gail Kimball brings lots of color from home where she raises her annuals in a greenhouse and then trucks a trailer full to BBH. A little further down Birch, Gretchen Murray always has some very nice looking gardens visible from Birch. As does Jayne McCarthy a few doors down. Jayne always keeps a bowl of water for the dogs walking by. Thanks, Jayne. The Oliphants have completed a nicely landscaped garden between their cottage and the water while, next door, Bill Presley has planted a number of flowering bushes, particularly Rhododendrons. Bill noted that he lost about half of his Rhodies this winter because of the cold and lack of snow to insulate the bushes. Moving up Beach, Sherry and Ernie Labelle brighten their property with some gardens near the road accompanied by by new wood chips that always makes things look better. So join the gardening crews and relax.

For our Firewise day on July 24, I have one spot left for an appointment with Maine Forest Ranger Kent Nelson. Ranger Nelson will assess your cabin’s ability to withstand a wildfire in Sprucewold. Those who have participated in the past have found his visit to be very worthwhile. If you would like the last appointment, contact me as soon as possible.

Our annual Firewise Chipping Day will be on Aug. 6. I will need a completed application which was attached to a recent email sent by Susan Goodell. If you would like an application, please contact me.

And---lastly, my annual plea for writers of the column continues as I have not been overwhelmed with volunteers. It is actually a fun job. August is filled but I need writers for the last two weeks in July. If interested, please contact me.