WESTLOCK – In an effort to boost security and protect the precious flowers and produce growing within, the Westlock Community Garden has now installed a strong, wire fence around the garden’s perimeter.
The community garden was hit by thieves earlier this spring between late May and mid-June. Flowers and several vegetable plants were uprooted and stolen in what is believed to be the first major incident at the community garden since it began in 2010.
The fence was installed mid-July by garden members and volunteers.
“I think it’s not going to stop all of our problems, but I think it may deter people from taking stuff,” said community garden president Brenda Lussier. “We had monthly meetings with all of our gardeners (this spring), and we discussed our options.”
The possibility of a fence was discussed in June with a vote taken by community garden members in early July.
Lussier noted that at one time the town did have a mesh plastic like fencing around the garden but it did not last against the elements. Once details, including any required permits from the town and the type of fence was decided upon, the club moved forward with the project last month.
“We weren’t changing the existing fence we were just adding page wire to it … (the town) said as long as we didn’t change the layout of the fence, that we were within our rights to put it in,” explained Lussier.
The new fence at the community garden stands five feet tall and will eventually include two gates on either side of the garden.
“We have the big gate — we usually get a load of dirt in the fall to upgrade the soil so we’ll have to leave a big gate for that so trucks can get in and then we have two main gates,” said Lussier.
The cost of the new fence was estimated to be about $2,000, including a couple of new posts. The club did some fundraising last year for the community garden and had funds in their account to put towards the fence, noted Lussier.
“I think it’s a real plus for the gardeners,” said Bea Hawryluk, who is in her third season at the community garden. “It’s a sturdy fence and it’s not going to disintegrate with the sun or the wind.”
Prior to the fence being installed, more and more gardeners have kept a watchful eye on their gardens this season, as well as nearby residents, said Lussier, adding that other reports have come to light since the thefts earlier this spring.
“We actually have had a lot of people in the neighbourhood phoning with reports — they’ve really been watching,” said Lussier. “I have been getting phone calls from the neighbourhood, that they were concerned that somebody was in there and shouldn’t have been.”
The new fence is a welcome feature to the community garden and will help local gardeners as the growing season continues into the fall.
“It’s beautiful. Last year was good but this year I think everything is just so lush and so green,” said Lussier. “I think it just gets better every year.”
