The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

"A Famlly Tradition for 126 Years" PORT PERRY STAR ~ Tuesday, Juhe 23, 1992-9 INTREPID 34 COTTAGER C. 1991 by CRAIG NICHOLSON - All Rights Reserved GREEN GROWING Gardening has different meanings. To some, gardening is the sculpting of nature into perfect symmetrical order. To others, it is a therapeutic exercise more enjoyed in the doing than the done. 2 me, gardening is doing as little as possible to keep nature at ay. The implication is that if we had lived with nature from the beginning, instead of at it, or beside it, there would be no gardening. Nature is her own best gardener. But man is compelled to clear the land, and once cleared, to garden for eternity. Gardening is that intrusive activity which keeps it clear and sightly in order that the Jones' are kept up with. I've always wondered who sets the pace for the Jones'. Certainly gardening has a history. Consider The Garden of Eden. The apple was bitten and ever since people have had to do their own gardening. Or The Gardens of Versailles. More than one, and at the cost of many heads. Or Busch Gardens where OPEN SUNDAYS CTO RC 1 SHY] IVAENRN JES SSAA LE SPRUCE LUMBER 49 79° they grow the hops. Or Tivoli Gardens, or Maple Leaf Gardens or New Jersey, The Garden State-a veritable green thumb paradise, no doubt. The point is that many people and nursery owners love gardening. In the city, it can be a small, if futile, buttress against encroaching pavement. In the country, it is at best an exercise in exerting control over nature and at worst, analogous to a child painting by numbers beside Van Gough. Obviously I'm not much of a gardener. If in doubt, take a look at my city lawns which are dusty expanses surrounded by scraggly, dog-chewed shrubs. I've made half-hearted efforts, but plant life is sensitive to human attitude and mine discourages the hardiest hybrids. The dogs get the rest. At the cottage the last thing I want is a landscaped property to feed my guilt or highlight my neglect. No, I'd rather be one with nature-one who nurtures, conserves, preserves, and encourages the wilderness to be wild. That precludes the fertilizers, weed ¢ preparations and chemical sprays that seep into the ground water, tainting wells and lakes. It means no shoreline defoliation to improve the view or tidy up. Better to leave that ecological py | balance unimpaired. It means leaving ground cover for small animals and insects. And for avid gardeners, it means a whole new hands-off attitude-of adapting to, and appreciating nature's garden. For me, it means that I've finally found the means to the end I'd already achieved. Unfortunately, when I bought my cottage, there was already a lawn and rock garden. Benign neglect and the moving bowels of two digging dogs quickly removed the garden from the rock. I've done my best with the lawn, but despite my 'success' in the city, my cottage lawn continues to bloom flush and green. It's almost embarrassing, Attacked by moles, slugs, ground hogs and winter Mh rer 1" x2" x 8 1"x3" x 8 2°x2°x8 89° 2" x3" x 8 $729 2" x4" x 8 SPS 2" Xx 6" x 8 $33? 2" x 4" x 92 5/8 S915 ECONO 90° STUDS 4-ft. x 8-ft. sheet sheet WAFERBOARD 1/4" S$ . 99 7116" . a9 eet 213? 3/8" thick 1/2" thick 5/8" T&G SPRUCE SHEATHING 4-ft. x 8-ft. $1149 $147? 18°° kill, it flourishes, I cheer for the plights and plagues to no avail, The neighbors want to know my secret. Cutting it is an act of penance. The wife says that all this is just an excuse for innate laziness. Reaction to childhood gardening duties. I argue that who in their right mind would want to come to the cottage to spend the weekend gardening? Instead, how about walking in the woods, or strolling the fields, or bird watching or following a deer track? Or translate that gardening compulsion into the destruction of gypsy moth egg masses, culling dead trees and branches, or battling tent caterpillars, or planting a seedling. So now gardening has a new meaning. It is an environmentally sensitive appreciation of the natural nature around us. It is a proactive, caring conservation of what is and should always be. It is not interfering where we are not needed. It is green growing. The Garden before the apple. The wife says this gardening and I are perfect for each other. It's not often that something I shirk becomes the thing not to do. The target of crusade and protest. I'm hoping there's an international movement against work. The wife says I'm the \Counder. py ay adeus, oie ale | £ = 1180 Simcoe St. N., Oshawa 436-9333 or 436-9065 La OPEN 7 DAYS AWEEK Banquet Facilities Available EVERYDAY DINNER SPECIALS *% : + Roast Prime Rib Beef (Can. Grade A) ANY SPECIAL FOR ONLY LY ey » New York Steak & Shrimps $ - Fresh Seafood Plate 9. 299 23 Pia cut ends on pressure treated lumber. OLY MPIC Semi-Transparent & Solid Colour 3.8 litres STAIN 10% | Wollman End Cut Treatment for S$ tie PRESERVATIVE 2 147 LAKE SCUGOG LUMBER CO. LTD. 11 VANEDWARD DRIVE - (OSHAWA ROAD) PORT PERRY - ONTARIO - PHONE 985-7391 1" X 6" FENCE BOARDS PRESSURE TREATED FRET ® QUALITY PRODUCTS ® QUALIFIED SERVICE i be HOURS! FRIDAY 7:30 AM - 7PM SUNDAY 11AM - 4PM ® COMPETITIVE PRICING wy re TA rg