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House Beautiful: A forested lakeside property in Cowichan

Giant sequoias, redwoods, pines, an empress tree, incense cedar, ginkgo biloba and ornamental flowering quince are just some of the trees that shade the Cowichan acreage of Don Carson and Theresa Kerrone.

Giant sequoias, redwoods, pines, an empress tree, incense cedar, ginkgo biloba and ornamental flowering quince are just some of the trees that shade the Cowichan acreage of Don Carson and Theresa Kerrone.

Carson has a passion for trees and a cedar-green thumb to match. One of his favourites is not even in his garden — or in existence anymore. It was a magnificent golden spruce that used to soar in Haida Gwaii and was felled in a political act in 1997.

Thanks to Carson, and a team of botanists, many of that tree’s progeny are alive today. Carson was manager of the Cowichan Research Station at the time and experts there were able to graft cuttings from the butchered beauty onto Sitka spruce stock.

“It was very political at the time and became the topic of a book written by [Vancouver writer] John Vaillant,” Carson said.

“The golden spruce had an unusual mutation and my guess is, it had a perfect micro climate to grow in with all the mist and fog there. It was uncommonly fascinating, and very important to the First Nations people.

“Because we had spruce root stock to give it support, we were able to graft it successfully and the new trees are exactly genetically the same.”

Carson had a long career in forestry and is also a keen gardener. His wife gives him full credit for their unique property near Duncan: “He’s the one with the vision.”

Others can enjoy his vision soon because the garden is one of six on the 25th-annual Cowichan Family Life Garden Tour taking place on Mother’s Day, May 12. (See sidebar, page E5)

Work on the garden has continued since the couple bought the house in 1993. Although the home was built eight decades ago, Kerrone said it was well kept.

“The previous owners didn’t do much to it and that was a good thing as we didn’t have to undo any renos.” The original charm is intact. For instance, all the windows are original and the glass still has that “warbled” look.

“We love the location because it is close to town, with city water, so we didn’t have to worry about a well. It was pretty much just lawn and a few shrubs then,” Kerrone said.

But Carson saw potential in the six-hectare site. They love the house, which faces sunrise on one side and sunset on the other, and overlooks Somenos Lake.

“We have a canoe and kayaks, but we don’t really do as much on the lake as we should. It is so beautiful to look at though,” said Kerrone, a former teacher who was born and raised in the valley. Her Vancouver-born husband moved to Duncan in 1978. Trained in horticulture, he worked in forestry for 32 years.

Their 3,500-square foot home was built by a superintendent of logging at Youbou, “and the wood finishing inside is beautiful,” said Carson.

The retired owners have kept it as original as possible, but did replace all the home’s wiring and plumbing, put on a new roof and refinish all the floors, including in the kitchen and dining rooms, where the original wood was hidden under lino.

The dining room is a gem. All they added were white sheers on the windows, an antique table and armchairs made from a Garry oak that fell on the property. The latter were made by a craftsman on the Sunshine Coast.

“When we bought the house, we thought it might be too big or too expensive,” said Carson. “But looking back, we made a good choice.”

The first thing they did outside was clear the land, “which was covered in huge piles” of dumped stuff, roots, bushes and blackberries. “I remember my wife taking her father down toward the water and getting lost trying to find the lake.”

With his Kubota tractor, he created contours, brought in mulch and soil, cleared paths and more.

Part of the property is in pasture now, some is wooded park and about one hectare is cultivated and includes an orchard with apples and grapevines.

The two have busy lives.

They go to boot camp at the local community centre first thing every morning — he often runs the eight kilometres there, while she drives — and they have done the Times Colonist 10K 28 times in the last 30 years.

“Running gives me the energy to garden,” he said with a chuckle, adding they also enjoy hiking and trekking in Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Jordan and more.

Their property is planted with rhodos, heather, irises, honeysuckle and hundreds of trees (he doesn’t plant anything with thorns), and features two ponds. The larger is more natural-looking with pink blossoms overhanging and yellow iris at the verge. A tree blew down over it in the December wind.

“I probably have enough firewood for three years now.”

Carson loves how a garden constantly evolves, how yellow Leopard’s Bane has naturalized and now sprouts up here and there, as do Pink Fawn lilies. “A friend gave me some seeds. They take four years to flower and I have sown them all around the property.”

“When you look at a garden, it is just one moment in time. It is constantly changing and I like that we always have something blooming, from January to late in the year.”

He also loves his trees, and has fond memories from years ago of riding in helicopters and collecting the uppermost tips of trees to graft onto seedlings. “I’d stand on the skids and reach out with a hydraulic pruner.

“We’d select the best-looking tree for width and form to breed … as we wanted to pass on the best genetics. A lot of people, like the Swedes, were interested in what we were doing.

Before that, he and other foresters would cut the tops of trees by shooting them from the forest floor.

“These trees were always in remote locations and we’d have to find a spot where we had a clear shot. Taking off five or six feet from a 30-metre tree took a lot of bullets. We used .22 rifles with long scopes balanced on our crossed skis.”

Carson doesn’t garden in the evenings now because he plays saxophone in a community band and a swing band at farmers markets, fundraisers and seniors’ homes, “where they have to sit and listen to us.”

GARDENTOUR

What: Cowichan Family Life Garden Tour

Where: Six gardens in the Cowichan Valley

When: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday May 12

Tickets: $25. For ticket outlets and more information, see cowichanfamilylife.org or call 250-748-8281

The tour features garden chats with Times Colonist columnist Helen Chesnut and master gardeners, and a garden tea with musicians and artists, catered by the Vancouver Island University culinary program.

The tour benefits Cowichan Family Life, which provides the valley with access to affordable counselling.