Re: Looking for "Death of a Gardener"

WARNING: Strong opinions to follow!

<rant>
I'm very sorry to say that this happened in my home town.  In my opinion,
Ms. Klein's only crime is that of being a visionary.  She has the
misfortune of living in an area of town that is  inhabited by a few small
minded individuals who, although the minority, have managed to convince
city bureaucrats that they are right.  Also, her original city councilor,
Evelyn Reese, wouldn't know a tree from a telephone pole, but that's
another story.

Ms. Klein's fight with city hall raised the issue of natural spaces to new
heights.  Although the Klein garden was lost, many people were inspired
replace their lawns with native plants and trees.  The tragic irony is
that, a couple of months before the Klein garden was bulldozed, Manitoba
Gardener ran a feature article about a similar garden--one with which the
owners have had no trouble at all with their neighbbours.  What's the
difference?  A more open minded communitee in another area of the cite
might be one reason.  The fact the one of the owners is a professional
garden designer has something to do with it, I'm sure.  

Off the top of my head, I can think of 3 other yards in Winnipeg similar to
Ms. Kleins. I knoe that there are many more.  I think that the owners of
these spaces own Ms. Klein a debt for fighting the battle for them.  

There are other ironies.  The neighbours complained that she was
composting.  Horrors!!  In the early '90s, when the first article appeared
in the Winnipeg Free Press, the City of Winnipeg was promoting backyard
composting by giving $50 rebates to residents who purchased composters.

Also, over the last 10 years, the city has been very proactive about saving
parcels of land that have never been developed and are still in a natural
prairie state.  The neighbours of these lots don't seem to mind.

Fortunately, there are more opened minded neighbourhoods than close minded
ones.  

Carole Wallice's article states that only one side of the property was
destroyed.  I haven't heard anything since last summer but if I do I'll
report back to the list.
</rant>

Leslie
zone 3 southern Mantioba


At 02:47 AM 05/17/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>> 	Whoever sent the post, talked about a person who was famous for her 
>> gardens which filled both her front and back yards.  Basically prairie and 
>> wildflower plants, I think.  City ordinance requires yards to be mowed 
>> periodically to keep grass, weeds, etc., within certain guidelines.
After a 
>> long time of negotiating with city council, city workers went to her home 
>> and, using heavy equipment, scraped off most of her yard.
 
>
>   http://www.mallorn.com/lists/perennials/oct98/msg00014.html
>
>It was a horrible tale -- I don't know what I'd do if faced with the same
>situation.

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