Finalists Announced In Lacey Beautiful Garden Contest

Finalists for Lacey’s Beautiful Garden Contest have been selected and each garden was meticulous, making it difficult to narrow down, said Eileen Tranz, Chairperson of the Lacey Garden Club.

“It was a tough one. They were all beautifully done by the residents themselves,” Tranz said.

Eight residents entered their gardens into the Beautiful Garden Contest but only four will receive awards at a ceremony in August. The finalists will not know what they placed until that ceremony.

Finalists Michael and Kathleen Sims’ backyard on Lawrence Drive in Lanoka Harbor was consumed by several gardens with a variety of plants. Tranz described the yard as “meticulous.”

“It’s a beautiful backyard. It’s like a wonderland. The shed was decorated to look like a cottage,” Tranz said. “A great deal of effort was put into the thought and physically many hours must have been put in. It was a very restful and peaceful place to sit and enjoy.”

Michael has been working on his backyard for 30 years. It consists of three ponds and flower gardens throughout the yard but what makes it unique are the water features and that it is animal and children friendly, he said.

His neighbors encouraged him to enter his garden in the contest to show off his work, Michael said.

“That’s not what I made it for. I made it for my wife and I to relax after work,” Michael said.

As a truck driver, Michael would use his time driving to think about his garden.

“I had a lot of time to think about it. I would get home and attack it,” Michael said.

Michael would also see many different plants and yards as he travelled the country and delivered to garden centers, sparking his interest. He and Kathleen used to travel extensively as well, he said.

“We don’t want to travel anymore. We want a place where we can just stay,” Michael said.

The couple can now look at their time at home as a vacation, he said.

Another garden was located on large property in Bamber Lake and had beautiful features, including many birdhouses, Tranz said.

“It had the best hotel for birds around,” Tranz said.

The property, owned by Joellyn Verdier, had large posts throughout the yard with unique birdhouses on either side of the posts. It also had bird feeders and gardens.

“They incorporated many ways to draw nature into their yards. It was just unique. Everything was encompassed in one property,” Tranz said.

Another finalist, Gloria Mako of Dolphin Court in Forked River had a home out on the water and is fairly new to gardening.

“It’s discovery on her part. She’s trying different plants. It wasn’t as elaborate as the others but very well done,” Tranz said.

The gardener has done a lot of research and has kept files on each of her plants so if one does not do well in one spot, she could move it.

Living off of water entails a different kind of gardening, Tranz said.

“Even if you’re on the water and get a lot of sunlight, you can do good gardening. She has done a very nice job and is very enthusiastic. She’s still learning. It was great and it deserved a reward,” Tranz said.

The Lacey Garden Club also added a category to this year’s contest for container gardening. One of the contestants was handicap and used containers for her gardening throughout the yard.

“It was meticulously done. She had a beautiful lawn and landscaping as far as edging throughout the property. She put a lot of thought into the variety of plants. This was just extraordinary.” Tranz said.

The gardeners, Michael and Pat Stielman of Annapolis Lane in Forked River, bought approximately 98 percent of the plants from the Lacey Garden Club’s plant sale, Tranz said.

The finalists are invited to the Lacey Garden Club’s August meeting, which will be held on Thursday, Aug. 4, where they will be presented with a certificate and a picture of their property.

The Lacey Garden Club has been active for over 30 years. The club meets on the first Thursday of ever month. Guest speakers attend the meetings and talk on a variety of topics such as spring planting, fall gardening, birds, mulching, and seasonal flowers.

“We try to keep the topics related to nature,” Tranz said. “You don’t have to have a green thumb. You can learn no matter what. You don’t have to feel like you have to be a gardener to join the club.”