Organic Gardening News

Self-seeding plants are a fabulous way to fill out your garden year after year with little effort.

The Sun Joe 24V-ST14 Cordless String Trimmer can edge to make lawns look finished and cut through brush to eliminate unsightly weeds.

When a property can accommodate covered parking for 10 vehicles — and uncovered for twice that — you know it’s big. The grounds of this two-storey wood frame Sardis house are certainly sprawling: the 1.5 acreage, surrounded by stretches of neighbouring green farmland, includes an in-ground pool with detached pool house/bar with sink and fridge, outdoor shower, in-ground hot tub, putting green, and expansive upper and lower heated decks with mountain views. Perfect for parties.

A detached out-building with eight roll-up doors that currently houses a leased business includes a self-contained two-bedroom suite up top and a separate caretaker’s suite below — ideal for revenue-generating opportunities, or a variety of other options.

Listing agent for the property Gregory Newberry of Pathway Executives Realty Inc., says if a buyer opted not to continue the business lease, the spacious outbuilding could be used as a workshop, storage, gym, studio, hobbies, or for tinkering on cars.

A natural gas fire pit with bench seating and surrounding grassy area sits between the shops and the back of the house. At the side is space to park an RV with hook-ups.

If golf doesn’t interest, the putting green can be remade into a dog run or child’s play area.

The home’s two patios feature natural gas fireplaces as well as phantom screens that raise and lower at the touch of a button. “They enclose the patios, keep the heat in, the bugs out, and create a nice warm space” for year-round use, says Newberry.

A huge generator runs the entire property, and part of the outbuilding is fitted with solar panels for energy efficiency.

“The interest I’ve been getting is for generational living,” says Newberry of potential buyers. “Two and three, in one case four, families who want to amalgamate into one property. It’s usually the mom and dad, their two married kids with maybe their own kids. So you have three families who have sold their respective homes and now want to occupy this property together.”

What’s inside

Inside the six-bedroom, six-bathroom, 4,988-square-foot home, slat walls cover the entranceway, laundry and living room, as well as some of the ceilings. In the great room and primary bedrooms, coffered ceilings add texture and depth, while engineered hardwood flooring extends throughout the entire home.

The open concept main living area, with doors leading to the pool deck, features a kitchen with large island and quartz countertops, pendant lighting above and under-cabinet lighting below. There’s also a small prep kitchen and wet bar with wine storage. A large butler’s pantry sits to the right of the kitchen and, for extra storage, behind the kitchen and down a hallway there’s a big barn door that opens into a huge additional pantry.

All the bathroom floors are heated, and all showers are large walk-in type with oversized tiles. Each bedroom (most are en suite) features large walk-in closets, and the two primary bedroom en suites feature a soaker tub. One primary bedroom has a deck with a gas fireplace and overhead heaters, a cozy space to take in the mountain views year-round.

In addition to the two on the patios, there are six natural gas fireplaces throughout the home, including in the two primary bedrooms, to keep the house toasty in winter, and air-conditioning to keep it cool in summer.

Upstairs is a “golf room” (which could convert to a games or rec room) with vaulted ceilings, a putting green carpet, wet bar and fireplace. There’s also a separate dedicated gym/work-out space.

In the neighbourhood

The home is smack dab in the middle of fertile farmland but a mere five-minute drive to the freeway, about 10 minutes to the shops, services and restaurants of Sardis, 20 minutes to downtown Chilliwack, and 15 minutes to Abbotsford. The closest school is Greendale Elementary, 600 metres away, while a school bus takes students to many other schools a bit farther away.

Several nearby golf courses include the 18-hole executive Cultus Lake Golf Club, a 20-minute drive away. Cultus Lake is also popular with families for its amusement park and “B.C.’s biggest waterpark”.

Closer still is the Chilliwack River, which lures anglers during salmon and steelhead seasons, and its miles of walking and running trails that run alongside it.

Three minutes away is the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve, which manages 325 acres of forests and wetlands and the large breeding colony of Pacific Great Blue Herons that nest here from March to July. The reserve is also surrounded by scenic trails with boardwalks, bridges and a lookout tower for spotting herons and other birdlife.

Although the home currently isn’t using outdoor space for dedicated flower or vegetable gardens, new owners could certainly opt to plant them. If not, Sardis is famous for its farms, both industrial and boutique, with fresh fruit and vegetables readily available throughout the spring, summer and fall.

Location:6257 Sumas Prairie Road, Sardis

Listed for: $4,350,000

Year built: 2020

Type: Six bedrooms, six bathrooms

Size: 4,988 square feet

Realtor: Listed by Gregory Newberry, Pathway Executives Realty Inc.

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After a cloudy, damp beginning, the inevitable warm summer weather of June will begin in earnest. As Greater Vancouver is already imposing serious water restrictions, we all need to mitigate the amount of water we use in our containers and landscapes. Selecting more drought-tolerant plants is certainly one way of dealing with this issue, but there is far more to it.

Water conservation in our gardens and landscapes requires strategic, long-term thinking and planning. It begins with a diversified approach. First of all, plants that have similar water requirements can be grouped and planted in such a way that they can help each other by providing shade and protection from drying winds.

Soil is perhaps the most critical element for all plants, especially in urban areas. So many new developments remove existing soil, construct their projects, and then plant using minimal amounts of good soil. Consequently, the soil in these new beds is often too shallow to support green space plantings and allow them to thrive. As the trees, shrubs, and lawns begin to grow, they require far too much water in the heat of summer to keep them healthy. Their limited root space causes many plants to go into stress, which renders them more susceptible to both disease and other pest problems.

The same is true of containers. Small baskets and planters dry out far too quickly, require watering far more often, and risk stressing out the plants, making their performance far less satisfactory.

Larger containers that have a critical mass of soil will need to be watered less often, making it easier for the plants to grow with less care. The addition of organic matter like Sea Soil and composted manures makes an important difference in the health of the plants and can significantly reduce the amount of irrigation required.

For all your plantings, be they in beds or containers, proper soil preparation is the key to success for all plants, from annuals to trees and shrubs. The planting hole you create should be twice as wide and deep as the size of the root system of the plant. Heavy soils can be amended with fine fir bark mulch and organic matter like Sea Soil, to hold the moisture around the new roots.

While composted manures are wonderful for vegetables, annuals, and perennials, most trees and shrubs are acid-loving, and manures are too alkaline for success. Fine fir bark, kelp and fish meal are the main ingredients of Sea Soil and are much better in helping to minimize water needs, while also aiding the roots to grow down deeper.

Cedar hedges have become a huge issue for care and watering over the past few years. Unfortunately, most hedges were never planted properly in the first place, with good, amended soil, and they are subsequently seldom adequately watered or fed. As a rule, their roots are shallow and as the hot summer weather dries them out, they struggle to survive. This is evident in late summer when we see so many dry brown trees in local hedges.

Older, more well-established hedges can sometimes be revived by working in some quality blended soils around the outside of the root zone of the trees. Try to do this on rainy days to ease the stress on the topmost roots. Work these good soil blends down about three to four inches. In addition, work in some time-release fertilizer like EverGro’s Evergreen and Broadleaf 14-7-14 fertilizer to provide much needed nutrient over a longer period.

Next, it’s important to water well and deeply. Finally, add a soaker hose or drip irrigation to help keep the soil moist going forward. Top dressing with a mulch will really help retain even minimal moisture. Drip systems are by far the most time efficient and are effective, however you must check the soil regularly to see how far down the moisture has penetrated — it can be deceiving with these systems, because you do need to water deeply to keep the roots growing downward. This is important if you want to turn even tired hedges into full, vibrant privacy screens. As a reminder, all trees and shrubs need to be watered at their drip line, which is the outer perimeter of the foliage.

Smart watering is one of the most effective ways to save water. The concept is to keep water off the foliage of the trees and keep it focused on the root zones. Pulsating sprinklers waste a good deal of water through evaporation and misdirected water spraying on sidewalks and roadways. For lawns, underground systems with efficient waterheads are the best ways to irrigate turf when allowed.

Soaker hoses are a great way to water vegetable, annual, and perennial gardens. When carefully placed, the water goes directly to the root zone, and less water is used.

Watering in the morning when the temperature is on the rise is by far the most efficient time to water. Evening watering results in plants transpiring moisture away, and essentially not making the best use of it. Watering in the heat of the day is not recommended because of the loss to evaporation and danger of burning the foliage.

Using plants in our gardens that are both more heat and drought tolerant is certainly important. They all need about six months to a year to become established well enough to minimize their watering requirements. We can all still use our favourite plants and pollinators, but we also still need to ensure proper soil preparation.

Some of my personal “go-to” drought resistant plants for summer colour include lantanas, portulaca, salvias and zinnias. For perennials, achillea, echinacea, gaillardia, lavender perovskia, rudbeckia and sedums are some of the best. While there are many sources offering additional suggestions, for a comprehensive list, be sure to check out the FireSmart B.C. Landscaping Guide. Not only does it offer proactive tips for keeping your garden FireSmart, it evaluates several annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs based on their moisture requirements once established. To view the guide, visit firesmartbc.ca/resource/landscaping-guide .

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