Love Your Yard! 2025

Devon Communities in Bloom congratulates Diane Melnyk of 112 Pidgeon Street who was given the "Love Your Yard!" sign by the previous recipient. Diane shared the following information about their yard:

We moved back to Devon 27 years ago to a corner lot that had a few trees and lots of grass. My husband designed a plan to completely re-landscape the property so it would require less maintenance and give us privacy on the patio area. 

We hired a landscaping company that did all the sod, landscape fabric, lava rock, boulders and planted a variety of shrubs and trees including cedars, spruce, birch, Ohio buckeye, junipers, rose bushes, spirea, potentilla, burning bush, bristlecone pine and aspens. Through the years I have lost some of the shrubs and trees but I've had many seedlings start in the rockery which I either left in place to continue growing or transplanted to relatives’ farms. 

The landscaping fabric helps to keep the moisture in the soil, therefore I rarely water. I do collect rain runoff for my potted plants and the small, raised container garden of vegetables. 

I enjoy the patio, especially on a hot day, as the large spruce provides a cool shaded area. In the fall the Ohio buckeye in the front yard is a stunning golden color.

The Ohio buckeye and bristlecone pine are profiled in the Trees of Devon book which can be found here!

Congratulations Diane and thank you for helping make Devon green and beautiful! 

Devon Communities in Bloom is delighted to announce that Vera Goeree’s yard at 9 Devonian Crescent has been selected for Love Your Yard!.

When Vera moved to this address in 2004, three huge spruce trees took up the entire front yard. They had to be removed, and then she started from scratch.

She loves trees and confesses to having far too many. The Strathmore crab tree in the front yard was planted the first year. It blooms in beautiful pink every year to welcome spring.

This summer she had the house painted, trying to modernize it a bit. It was changed from greenish siding with orange bricks to slate blue siding with charcoal grey bricks.

She would like to work on the backyard next year, including removing a deck. Her wish list includes adding a water feature and raised vegetable beds and a small stone patio in the deck area.

Vera’s tip for new gardeners is to add trees and shrubs for privacy and shade.

Congratulations Vera and thank you for helping Devon bloom!

Devon Communities in Bloom Congratulates Taylor and Ashley of 32 Peace River Drive 

Devon Communities in Bloom is proud to recognize Taylor and Ashley, homeowners at 32 Peace River Drive, as Love Your Yard! recipients. Their yard transformation, creativity, and love for gardening have added beauty to the community.

Having called Devon home for the past 13 years, and their current house for the last two, Taylor and Ashley have delved into landscaping that reflects both vision and hard work. A highlight of their yard is a beautifully built dry creek bed. The couple removed a significant portion of their lawn which was a labour-intensive effort.

“The stones were sourced from local farmers’ fields, aside from a few that were already there,” shared Taylor. “I have always liked the look of a natural creek, and thought it was a great opportunity to put a plan in action and get creative and do a big project like this.”

To complete the look, they filled the surrounding space with a mix of divided perennials from their yard along with contributions from family members. A few carefully chosen purchases helped to round out the garden. Additionally, they planted a new apple tree and strawberry plants, a nod to their love for greenery that not only looks beautiful but provides a food source.

“We enjoy having plants that give something back, in addition to adding some landscape aesthetics,” said Taylor. “Eventually, we’d love to add a larger vegetable garden when we have the time.”

When asked what advice they’d give to aspiring gardeners, they offered this: “Start small and do something manageable. Document your successes and failures, and then you can build on it from year to year.”

Devon Communities in Bloom applauds Taylor and Ashley’s creativity and hard work. Their yard is an inspiration to other gardeners.

Devon Communities in Bloom congratulates the Mills family of 15 Peace River Drive who found the "Love Your Yard!" sign in their front yard on June 18, where it will remain until July 2. Allison, the main gardener in the family, shared the following information about their yard:

Thank you for such a wonderful program for our community. When we first purchased our home two years ago, the yard was extremely overgrown. It’s a major project in progress and I'm so honoured to have been chosen. 

This is our first home which we purchased two years ago. Being a new homeowner and new to gardening, I hadn't realized how overgrown the perennial beds were when we first moved in. I was pregnant during our first year of home ownership so I had to patiently wait, dreaming up ideas of all the things I wanted to do in the yard as soon as I got the chance. Luckily, I had some amazing neighbours who helped weed that first summer. 

The following fall the fun began—I dug up a HUGE bed of lily of the valley (I'm still finding shoots here and there), removed overgrown ferns, and divided and transplanted all the crowded hostas and peonies (there were a lot). I removed all the rocks from around the edge of the big perennial bed in the front yard, which I refer to as the “island”. There are two tree stumps on the one side of our house where the grass wasn't really growing. This spring, I dug up that area and transplanted more plants and ground cover from the island and other side yard to fill it in. 

My favourite feature is just how lush and green everything is. I also hold a special spot in my heart for the quaint little side yard next to our apple tree. It feels peaceful there. My two-year old daughter loves going there to check on the strawberries’ growth and eventually eat the berries with my husband. It’s their special little thing they do throughout the spring and summer. 

I still have lots of things I want to do. Bark mulch is definitely next on the list. I would like to dig up more grass to add more mulch beds with perennials and soft round edges. And perhaps I’ll even level out the lawn by building a rock retaining wall with help from my handy husband. Grass needs a lot of maintenance and watering to keep it looking nice. Yards can be so much more than grass. I'm inspired by a few of my neighbours who have beautiful yards with little grass. 

My advice for new gardeners like me would be to just START. Try it. In today’s world filled with hustle, bustle and technology, it’s so therapeutic to just unplug. Get outside and get dirty.

Congratulations to the Mills family and thank you for helping make Devon bloom!

Devon Communities in Bloom announces that Tera Huber’s front yard at 21 Peace River Drive was selected for "Love Your Yard!"—an initiative that celebrates gardening efforts that beautify our community.  A vibrant splash of colour and a thoughtful garden layout have earned her lots of admiration. 

Over the past two summers, Tera has been hard at work transforming her front flowerbeds into an attractive, blooming display of colour, shapes and texture. She removed overgrown perennials and shrubs, replacing them with an impressive mix of colourful perennials like rose bushes, delphiniums, lupins, and poppies. A selection of annuals was added to give the garden an extra pop of seasonal colour.

Tera’s vision wasn’t just about beauty — it was practical too. “Many of the plants I chose are drought-tolerant, which makes them well suited to our Alberta climate,” she explained. To reduce maintenance and suppress weeds, she added fresh mulch throughout and planted a variety of ground cover plants. The result? An attractive landscape where something is always in bloom, creating continuous interest all season long.

Photos of her yard show a flourishing garden full of life, colour, and charm — a great addition to Devon’s gardening spirit.

Congratulations, Tera, and thank you for helping make Devon bloom!