Sudbury Accent: There is more than one way to grow an outstanding garden

You might be a new homeowner, recently moved, downsizing or upsizing, retired, or just have been thinking about how you could improve your yard. Five properties were showcased on the annual Sudbury Horticultural Society’s Open Garden Weekend this past Saturday and Sunday.

No worries if you missed it; it is an annual event. Add it to your summer 2025 plans. This year, it was still a deep deal at $10. You come away uplifted and full of ideas about what is possible, all here in Sudbury. This is a fundraising event with monies used to support community gardens and the John Street Park.

As a child growing up in Sudbury, I knew of struggling birch treed yards, droughty, dusty grass patches and the inescapable black rock. Well, that was then and this is now.

Tranquil oases of shade, water gardens and fountains, lush intensity of colourful blossoms and such saturated green that no one in 1961 would recognize as our city and towns.

To say the region was a bit bleak back then you almost can’t believe the transformation. Some of it is from industrial pollutant mitigation – better known as Sudbury’s regreening program – that repaired much of the damage caused by early mining activities in the region.

Add the ingredients of love and labour by the city’s gardeners and Sudbury has become gorgeous with greenery.

Holding ticket number 205, there was no set pattern for visiting these properties. Start here, finish there. The Passport contained detailed directions.

You could do it all in one day or break it up into core and edges, or north and south. You could even revisit a favourite the next day. Sure, there was some distance between the destinations, but even Saturday’s morning rain did not deter the avid.

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