Love Your Yard! 2026

Devon Communities in Bloom is pleased to announce that the yard of Jenise Bidulock and Don Kenyon on Thompson Crescent is the second of six yards to be featured this summer in celebration of environmentally friendly practices.

Upon entering Don and Jenise's backyard, visitors are greeted by a space that proclaims, “We love plants!” This biodiverse and peaceful oasis is filled with food-producing plants, including trees, shrubs, vegetables, and herbs.

More than 20 large tomato plants thrive throughout the yard, some growing in containers and others planted directly in the ground. As the tomatoes mature, Jenise and Don look forward to using them to create pasta sauce, ketchup, and salsa. They also make jams, jellies, and juices from a variety of fruits, including apples, raspberries, gooseberries, and currants. Their culinary and medicinal herbs are grown in the garden and greenhouse in the summer and under grow lights in the basement throughout the winter months. They dry many of these herbs for culinary and medicinal use, such as preparing cough and cold medicine. 

Their vegetable garden is planted in stages. At the time of our visit, garlic, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, squash, zucchini, lettuce, and potatoes were already growing. Bush and pole beans, as well as cucumbers, had yet to be planted. They live in the greenhouse until the ground warms. Once planting is complete, the focus will shift to weeding, thinning and harvesting early crops. 

Don and Jenise take an inquiry approach to gardening. They spend considerable time observing the plants and animals in their yard and have developed an appreciation for all forms of life. They also know that weeds have their place. One example is the common dandelion. Don explained that the dandelion's deep taproot draws minerals from lower soil layers and makes them available to other plants when added to their compost. He also appreciates nuisance bugs such as gooseberry worms and mosquitoes for their role as an important food source for birds such as wrens and swallows.

In support of garden-friendly insects, Don and Jenise pile fallen leaves along fences and in sheltered areas to provide winter habitat for them. Helpful insects such as ladybird beetles and lacewings emerge in masse in the spring. Jenise and Don have even learned to live peacefully with wasps as they eat white flies and aphids. When they emerge hungry from their nests in the fall, the trick is to be quiet and still so as not to irritate them. 

Additional eco-friendly practices include composting, collecting large volumes of rainwater, and providing food and shelter for birds. The diversity of plants for pollinators in their yard is important as is a diversity of tree species as different species attract different types of bugs. Don shared that ornamental trees host a few species of insects, while an oak tree can host up to 72 different species of bugs.  Jenise and Don do not use pesticides and herbicides, choosing more natural controls. Instead, they pick slugs by hand and use insecticidal soap on other insects when necessary. They also leave brush piles, stalks of plants, and even dead trees standing whenever it is safe to do so. This creates valuable habitat for many bird, animal and insect species.

Thank you, Don and Jenise, for helping Devon bloom in an eco-friendly way! 

For more information about growing fruit, vegetables and herbs, start with a Lois Hole vegetable gardening book and supplement it with the Edmonton Horticultural Society's workshops and online resources. That combination will give you the timeless fundamentals and the latest local advice.

Devon Communities in Bloom is pleased to recognize Don and Debbie Spearman of 444 Ravine Court through its Love Your Yard! Eco-Friendly program, which celebrates residents who demonstrate environmentally responsible approaches to gardening and yard care.

The Spearmans have embraced a variety of sustainable practices throughout their property, creating a yard that is attractive, productive and environmentally conscious.

One of the Spearmans' eco-friendly initiatives is the introduction of micro clover into their front lawn. Micro clover is a dwarf variety of Dutch white clover and grows 4 to 6 inches tall.  By lightly scratching the soil and spreading clover seed, they have been gradually establishing a low-maintenance ground cover that has spread over more than two-thirds of the front yard. Don estimates that, with adequate moisture, the clover could fill in the entire lawn within three to four years.

As a legume, clover naturally fixes nitrogen in the soil, helping to keep the lawn healthy and green without the need for nitrogen fertilizer. This has allowed the Spearmans to significantly reduce their reliance on lawn fertilizers while maintaining an attractive appearance. Clover also requires less water than traditional turf grass, stays green during dry periods, and is less susceptible to yellowing from pet urine. Another benefit of clover is that it chokes out dandelions. Once fully established, the Spearmans expect the clover lawn will require little or no mowing, further reducing maintenance and environmental impacts.

In the backyard, the Spearmans have incorporated a technique known as hugelkultur into their raised garden beds. Logs and scrap wood buried beneath the soil occupy approximately one-third of the bed depth, reducing the amount of soil required while gradually decomposing to provide nutrients for the plants growing above.

Composting is another important part of their gardening philosophy. Kitchen scraps and yard waste are transformed into nutrient-rich compost, a process that typically takes about a year depending on moisture levels and the balance of green materials. The resulting compost helps nourish their gardens and reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill. Additional nutrients come from decomposing wood within garden beds, occasional applications of Town-supplied compost, and supplemental fertilizer when needed.

To further improve soil health and conserve resources, mulch is applied throughout their garden beds. Mulch helps retain moisture in the soil, reduces weed growth, and lessens the need for frequent watering.

The Spearmans also enjoy the rewards of their mature apple tree. Last year alone, it produced 99 apples, although most years yield even more. To preserve the harvest, they dehydrate many of the apples and later rehydrate them for baking, including homemade apple pies. This approach allows them to enjoy homegrown fruit year-round while reducing dependence on freezer storage.

Water Conservation Through Rainwater Harvesting

Water conservation is another important component of the Spearmans' eco-friendly gardening approach. They have installed five rain barrels around their property, with a combined storage capacity of 265 gallons. The system includes three 45-gallon barrels and two 65-gallon barrels, allowing them to capture and store rainwater from their roof during the growing season.

Much of the collected water is distributed by hand using watering cans to nourish their vegetable and flower gardens. This simple but effective approach helps reduce their reliance and spending on treated municipal water while ensuring plants receive the moisture they need.

The Spearmans have also incorporated passive irrigation into part of their landscape. A flower bed located in front of their deck is watered through a perforated pipe connected to the eavestrough system. Rainwater collected from the roof flows directly through the pipe and into the garden, providing efficient irrigation while making full use of a natural resource that would otherwise run off the property.

Combined with their use of mulch and drought-tolerant clover, the rainwater harvesting system helps the Spearmans conserve water while maintaining healthy and attractive gardens throughout the season.

Through their thoughtful and practical approach to gardening, Don and Debbie Spearman demonstrate how small, sustainable choices can contribute to a healthier environment while creating a beautiful and productive yard. Their efforts serve as an excellent example for residents looking to make their own gardens more eco-friendly.

Devon Communities in Bloom is pleased to announce that Allan Macaulay’s yard at 448 Ravine Court is the first of six yards to be profiled this summer for their eco-friendly practices.

The featured practice at Allan’s residence is the native plants displayed in the front yard. The champion of this garden was his wife, Karen Macaulay. She planned it, sourced the native plants to go in it, nurtured them, and installed labels to share plant names with curious visitors and passersby. Examples of the native plants found in the Macaulay front yard are prairie crocuses, blue violets, junipers, wild blue flax, and larkspurs. 

The benefits of native plants are many. They require less water once established, they possess a natural resistance to regional pests and diseases, they require less fertilizer than non-native plants, and they provide the pollen, seeds, and other foods that regional pollinators, birds and mammals need. Native plants have co-evolved with insects to provide better shelter to wildlife than non-native species, including a wide variety of insects that feed birds. In addition, many native grasses and flowers have deep root systems that prevent erosion and have an increased capacity to absorb rainwater reducing stormwater runoff.

Allan worked alongside Karen to create the native plant garden in their front yard, and it remains the environmental practice he values most. The inviting garden showcases a variety of native species, complete with plant identification signs. The Macaulays have always been happy to share their environmental knowledge to inspire and support others interested in adding native plants to their own landscapes.

Allan follows other environmental practices. Those who walk on the trail behind the Macaulay yard often pause to admire the sights and sounds coming from the bird feeders that Allan has placed along the edge of the bush. When asked how to have a bird-friendly yard, Allan suggests the following ways:

• Be consistent with feeding and keep the containers topped up

• Provide good quality food, e.g. mixed nuts, black sunflower seeds, sterilized thistle seed, beef suet

• Consider birds’ current needs, e.g. when black-capped chickadees are nesting and require more fat, Allan adds nuts to their feed

• Disinfect the feeders every six months by placing them in water with a disinfectant such as isopropyl alcohol or vinegar

Allan has a wooden bin in the backyard from which he takes about six wheelbarrow loads of compost every two years. Also found in his backyard are many containers filled with trees that Allan generously propagates for family, friends and Devon’s green spaces.

Thank you, Allan, for helping Devon bloom in an eco-friendly way! 

As the Macaulay yard is an example of many good environmental practices, Allan has offered to do four tours with small groups between 10 am and 12 pm on Saturday, June 6. If you’re interested in signing up for a tour, look for the details on the Devon Communities in Bloom Facebook page.

For more information about native plants, visit the Edmonton Native Plant Society at https://www.enps.ca/.