Parkwood Tennis Court Gardens Rejuvenation Projects
by Robin Burns
In 2019 The Oshawa Garden Club in partnership with Parkwood Estate and the Durham Master
Gardeners embarked upon a five-year rejuvenation project in the gardens known as the Tennis Court
Gardens. Located just off the back parking lot and surrounded by cedar hedges the two existing 70’ long
borders were in dire need of a garden re-design. In keeping with the 1920’s and 1930’s plantings of
husband-and-wife landscape architect team, Lorrie and Howard Dunington-Grubb our combined groups
formed a design team to research the history of the Parkwood Gardens and the landscape architects
that created them. Each year over the next four years a half border was designated for the removal of
existing plants, soil remediation, design and plantings of new planting. Volunteers worked weekly
throughout the garden season. Plants were selected based on the type of plants that would have been
original to the gardens with consideration for the hardiness and evolution of those plants.
The border gardens were completed as planned in 2023. While each of the partners made a financial
commitment to the costs of the project with an initial pledge of $10,000 an additional $10,000 was
raised over the five-year project timeline through annual Plant Sales utilizing plants culled from the
gardens or grown from bareroot. While the majority of the budget was spent on plants, compost and
mulch the group also enhanced the gardens with four unique obelisks and a bench dedicated to the
volunteers of the project and positioned to view the beautiful gardens. Contrary to the engraved plaque
on the bench “Sit Relax Enjoy” the volunteers barely stopped to smell the roses when their eyes fell
upon the southern vista of the gardens and an exciting new project was formed.
The Lilac Dell is the newest rejuvenation project in the Tennis Court Gardens. Located at the southern
portion of the gardens, overgrown bushes, lilacs and invasive plants were removed in 2024 and a design
was created incorporating a pastel colour themed planting continuing the colour choices of the border
gardens. These plants will be complemented by a selection of lilacs planted to enhance the gardens
while enjoying the new view to the Fountain Pool and Tea House.
These projects would not have been made possible without the dedication and support of our
volunteers. Throughout the gardening season, in all weather conditions, our volunteer gardeners enjoy
their time learning about plant types, planting protocols, diseases, insects, and much more by working
shoulder to shoulder with the Durham Master Gardeners and our own veteran gardeners. Since the
beginning of this project, we have dedicated over 3,000 volunteer hours. We also enjoy sharing the
many experiences with visitors to the gardens whether they be out of town visitors, hospital staff,
neighbourhood coyotes or bald eagles flying through. Oshawa Garden Club members are always
welcome to join us as we meet in the gardens Wednesday mornings from 9 am to noon. Our 2025
season runs from May to October.
There are also opportunities to take part in ad hoc learning experiences on plants, planting protocols,
diseases and insects and much more by working shoulder to shoulder with Durham Master Gardeners
and our own veteran gardeners.
2022 Update
We have completed the 4th year of this 5-year project at the Parkwood Historic Site and are very proud of our results. Our combined team of OGC volunteers, Parkwood staff and volunteers and members of the Durham Master Gardeners have combined our talents and knowledge to help bring these prominent Tennis Court Border Gardens back to nearer how they would have appeared in the 1920s and 30s.
While we will never replicate what the prominent landscape designers of the day achieved through the efforts of a very significant staff of trained Parkwood gardeners and their extensive greenhouses, we feel that it has been well worth the effort to emulate their vision of showcase gardens. We hope that Sam and Adelaide McLaughlin would be proud of our combined efforts.
This project has been blessed with a steady group of volunteers again this year and we are pleased to report that we are where we should be in our annual and 5-year plans. The last section of the gardens was prepped and cleared and has now been planted with newly purchased perennials along with some repurposed and repositioned plants. Bulb planting was delayed by a few weeks due to supply-chain issues but will build on the very extensive spring bulb display in the two gardens.
We held a successful plant sale again this year squeezed between a Parkwood Gala, Movie Shoot and a large wedding at Parkwood that bookended the sale. While this caused a bit of scrambling and experienced smaller customer attendance this year, the proceeds will again provide over $2,000 in revenues to purchase more plants and supplies to finish off and supplement the 4 sections of the gardens in 2023.
We extend a very big thank-you to our very dedicated volunteers and leadership team who contributed over 300 volunteer hours over the past year to the project. We also share a big shout out to the Parkwood staff and especially the Durham Master Gardeners for a great learning experience and collaborative community project experience. As a member of the Oshawa Garden Club, you are welcome to join us as a volunteer on the project in 2023. Most of the work is done Wednesday from 9:00 am to noon and involves weeding, planting, pruning, and trimming, and potting up plants for our fall plant sale. We are active from June through to October. There are also opportunities to take part in ad hoc learning experiences on plants, planting protocols, diseases and insects and much more by working shoulder to shoulder with Durham Master Gardeners and our own veteran gardeners.