Three sets of avid North Battleford gardeners are looking forward to next year after their yards were placed on the Communities in Bloom judges tour this year.
Dr. Joyce and Lloyd Serool at 1803 Gregory Dr., Karen and Garry Weran at 1072 - 112th St. and Linda Coleman at 1321- 96th St., all say the secret to their yards is dedication, love and patience.
The Serools have been in their current location here since 1974. Over those years, they worked on their yard a little bit each year; a theme repeated by other finalists.
However, come the spring and summer the work intensifies.
"Between the two of us (we probably spend) 20 hours a week (in the yard), easily - maybe 25," Lloyd says.
They spend time pruning and deadheading flowers.
"If you pick them properly, they're ready to grow new ones," he says.
The Serools work hard on their lawn too. Lloyd says he fertilizes the lawn three times a year.
He takes out the old mulch and puts in new batches too.
Meanwhile, "Joyce prunes it all the time," he says.
Lloyd uses fibre to keep out weeds and it works, he says.
"The odd one pops up, but not for the first couple of years," he says.
The Werans have a Veterans' Land Administration lot, so it's much larger than many. They've been there for about 30 years.
When they bought the lot, jack pines proliferated in the back yard.
"My husband cut the trees and he took the bark off and cut them and made a retaining wall," Karen says.
"It's just playing, really; nothing fancy, but it's home," Karen says. "We just pick away."
Linda Coleman's yard has a pond in the back that took extensive work to create. When she moved into her home at 1321 96th St. in 2006, there was no pond. She decided she wanted one right near the house - the very spot occupied by a concrete patio.
She and her parents painstakingly chipped out the concrete and used those bits and pieces to help build up the waterfall area for the pond.
The pond was dug to a depth of four feet.
"I took the dirt out in ice cream pails," Coleman says. "I was asked, 'why don't you use an excavator?' But then it wouldn't be done by me."
The pond has been drained for the winter, but when it's full, it has fish in it. Coleman likes to sit in a shaded area by the pond and watch the birds check it out.
When she moved to her current home, the front yard had no flowers and no vegetable garden. She's taken care of that problem. Each year the front yard gardens burst with colour, as does the garden in the back yard.
Coleman admits she works hard on her front and back yards.
"In July I was there from about 10 a.m. to 6 o'clock at night," she says.
