The good news starts with me passing my Red Seal Program for Landscape Horticulture! I was so excited that I literally screamed. I had pushed a lot of my life to the wayside so I could study, study and–you guessed it–study some more. This was partly due to the fact that I crammed all four years of schooling into 14 months–which was insane but was worth it in the end. I learned so much practical knowledge that I can immediately apply towards cultivating a beautiful woodland forest.

Through the Red Seal Program for Landscape Horticulture at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, I was also honoured and humbled to receive two horticulture awards that will also be helping our forest for years to come.

The George Hardy Award

The award: The first award that I won was the George Hardy award. The George Hardy award is given out to two individuals through Kwantlen Polytechnic University based on academic achievement. This definitely helped make all the studying worth it!

The ceremony: I was invited to the award ceremony at the Coast Hotel in Langley and had an amazing time with my fellow award recipients, my teachers and the donors. At the ceremony I was awarded $1050 dollars which was absolutely amazing.

How it helped: We used the money to help purchase an extremely needed chipper, as the forest is constantly “shedding” and, well, we need wood chips!

(Kids playing in the newly made chip piles before it is spread.)

The Dogwood Garden Club Award

The award: The second award that I won was from the Dogwood Garden Club.

The ceremony: Last month I was invited to one of the Dogwood Garden Club meetings to receive my award. Prior to the meeting, I was told to bring a short bio with me. Then, when I got there I was asked to do a short speech to introduce myself. Luckily I had the bio with me! I was very nervous as there were so many people there and I hadn’t practiced a speech, but the smiling faces made me feel much more at ease.

I had never actually been to a garden club meeting before, so it was a whole new experience for me. First, one of the members taught us how to create a perfect specimen for floral competitions. I didn’t even know that there were competitions for the perfect specimens, but of course there are!

Next, the ladies from Botanus did presentations–and, my gosh, these ladies are fabulous presenters and can captivate and hold an audience. Simply mesmerizing. I should also mention Elke, who was so wonderful, and gave me tons of tips on starting a business and social media accounts. Please check out their videos as they are excellent!

I learned so much from this garden club! In two years I am going to go back to talk to them about what I’ve been up to.

If you’re interested in what this group has to say about gardening, I highly recommend starting with the Dogwood Garden Club’s website. as you might just want to join the next meeting yourself!

How it helped: With the Dogwood Garden Club’s award of $1000 (wow!) we bought a new-to-us Snapper off of Craigslist. The Snapper is incredible and is going to really help us get the brush under control.

We are so very grateful for these generous gifts. They are going to help us tackle the wild!

Becky

Becky is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Landscape & Production Horticulturist, Arborist and budding Herbalist, who recognizes and specializes in the link between healthy soil, the gut and the brain. She also loves being the mom to her two wild and crazy kids Brooke & Connor whom keep her and her ever loving, creative husband Jay on their toes.