POTS & PLANTS
/MEET THE MASTER GARDENER
by Beth Lopez
(click images to enlarge)
Pascale and I met when she joined the staff at the school where I was teaching. She had been in Finland for three years and was returning to her teaching career. She is trained in physical education, French and art and she has taught all three. She grew up in France and was my go-to person when I didn’t understand a French word or I needed the right verb form. Besides teaching, she does sculpting and stained glass work, and is a black belt in Taekwondo. I also learned that Pascale has trained as a Master Gardener. That’s not just a nice compliment; Master Gardener is a title one earns through lots of hard work and study.
I was interested in the Master Gardener program and wanted to know more. Why did she decide to do this work? How does one get certified? What makes all this effort worthwhile?
Pascale in her garden , enjoying the wisteria.
Pascale heard about the certificate program through a conversation with the receptionist in her doctor’s office. Her love of gardening sent her off to learn more about it and then to sign up.
Pascale learned to love the garden when she was four — living for a year with her grandmother, who had a vegetable garden, a few chickens and some rabbits, at her home in Brittany. Pascale remembers making the connection of the mutual cycle in the garden: chickens eating bugs off the plants and rabbits eating the weeds that her grandmother had pulled, while the animals provided fertilizer for the garden. I will point out here that many avid gardeners I know, including me, learned to love the garden working beside a parent or grandparent. I am a strong advocate for getting little kids out into the garden.
GETTING CERTIFIED
Becoming certified as a Master Gardener requires taking a course through the Master Gardeners Association of BC (MGABC) that lasts over a year. There are classroom lessons, readings, field trips and hands-on work with plants. Besides the studying and tests to pass, there are volunteer hours to serve. This could be in a garden center answering questions or working in the gardens of places like a hospice. It could also be time spent educating others about gardens and gardening or working with farmers’ markets, community groups and schools. You can call the VanDusen Botanical Garden question line if you have a concern about a plant or a bug attacking a plant or a disease on a plant. The volunteer who answers your question is probably a Master Gardener.
The MGABC has a lot to offer on their website, with events, workshops and articles. I learned that one of the driving forces behind the group was the idea of restoring balance to horticulture and agriculture. One method they teach is companion planting; planting different plants together with one plant driving away bugs that attack the plant beside it. This is done instead of using pesticides. Techniques like this are called gardening best practices and are at the root of what MGABC teaches and advocates for.
Once the certificate has been earned, it must be kept active through a number of hours of volunteering each year. Pascale has let her certificate lapse due to other pressures on her time, but hopes to get back to it once life slows down.
The answer to my final question of “what for” became obvious. The pay off for all this study and volunteering is knowledge, both gained and shared. Pascale is curious and loves to find out the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of things that interest her. The volunteer hours give her the chance to share knowledge, which is the joy of every teacher. The program makes her part of a community of gardeners as well, peers and mentors who share her love of gardens.
Seedlings growing for spring planting, labels cut from yogourt tubs.
HELPFUL TIPS
I picked up a couple tips from Pascale as we chatted over lunch. Save your eggshells, crush them and put them around your plants. Slugs don’t like to walk on crushed eggshells. Spreading used coffee grounds between plants might deter cats and squirrels from visiting your garden. Finally, save your plastic containers, like yogurt or margarine tubs, and cut the sides into strips about 3 cm wide (an inch in old terms). Using a sharpie or grease pencil, write on the strips to label plants in your garden. Pascale just gave me a set which I will use when I plant out my herbs in the spring.
Pascale has a beautiful garden on a steep hillside. She just told me about an article she read on the dangers of tilling, which disturbs the delicate balance of living things in the soil. She is trying a new method: Scrape the topsoil off and save it to one side; cover the bared bed of soil with cardboard; lay topsoil over the cardboard; cover in leaves; let sit over the winter. In the spring, poke a hole through the cardboard and plant seedlings. The cardboard will act as mulch and slowly disintegrate while protecting the soil below. I’ll have to check back in the fall to find out how it all went.
A Mason bee house with a slot at the top for butterflies, both important pollinators.
Pascale is also enthusiastic about supporting pollinators and makes sure they are welcome in her garden. Honey bees are not the only bees that visit your flowers. Many species of native bees also carry on this important work. There are many types of homes for native bees and Pascale has several types around her home to invite them to stay.
Pascale asked me to note that she is not speaking on behalf of the Master Gardeners Association. This is her personal account.
I have been thinking of adding a similar notice to my column anyway and this seemed like the moment. I do not profess to be an expert or Master Gardener. I am just sharing my joy and experiences with gardens.
DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL GARDEN?
Do you have a garden in the West End or Coal Harbour that you would like to share - a curb garden, a boulevard garden, a round-about garden, a building, roof, or patio garden, a community plot, or something entirely new? If you would like me to write about your garden, please contact me at beth.twej@gmail.com.
