Quinte Botanical Gardens opens in eastern Ontario

Quinte Botanical Gardens in Frankford, Ontario, opened August 2017. Developed by Deanna Groves and John Reidl who operate The Garden Place.

The formal knot garden is one of 25 gardens at Quinte Botanical Gardens.
Theย formal knot garden is one of 25 gardens at Quinte Botanical Gardens.

A new botanical garden opened in August 2017 inย southeastern Ontario. Quinte Botanical Gardens is a six-acre site in Frankford, Ont., developed by Deanna Groves and John Reidl, who operate The Garden Place landscape design and installation business. After 10 yearsย ofย planning, work started in spring 2016.

โ€œWe have always enjoyed visiting gardens in our travels, and feel that a lot of other people do, too,โ€ Deanna says. โ€œOver the past few years, while operating our landscaping business, it became more evident how many benefits there are for people whoย garden or visit a garden. During our research we discovered the multitude of physical and mental health benefits there are when people just spend an hour or two quietly meandering around plants.ย  Seniors can actually partake, people can learn about growing veggies, children have fun learning where food reallyย comes from, people who are in high-stress positions or who are grieving can find peace just by walking through gardens.โ€

The garden is located an hour from Peterborough and Kingston and 15 minutes from the Canadian Forces base in Trenton. ย There are 41 businesses sponsoring portions of the gardens either with labour or materials, 15 volunteers and nineย tourism organizations involved. ย With a small grant from the New Horizons for Seniors Program, theyย built a garden gazebo and willย present free talks by professionals on issues important to seniors.

โ€œCreating gardens isnโ€™t new to us,โ€ Deanna says. โ€œWeโ€™ve created about 255 gardens with our landscaping businesses so far. Both John and I have business backgrounds, so accumulated business sense really gave us a good foundation (excuse the pun). People laugh at us because they donโ€™t understand why we prefer to get our hands dirty, be among plants, and gently lift leopard frogs away from where weโ€™re digging.ย Creating 28 gardens in one place, as a tourist attraction and learning centre, is new to us.โ€

The garden will include variousย themes, including a formal rose garden, an English garden, an edible garden and an interactive seniorsโ€™ garden with raised beds encouraging gentle participation.

โ€œThe gardens will act as a catalyst for other tourist attractions in the area,โ€ says John, who has extensive hospitality โ€œLocal restaurants, stores, hotels and service stations will also benefit. Reports have proven to show that botanical gardens act as a gateway to a region, creating more of a variety of things to see and do.โ€

Quinte Botanical Garden

    • 664 Glen Ross Rd., Frankford, Ontario

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    • Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week (closed Wednesdays for maintenance).

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    • Admission is $10 per person and children under six can enter for free.

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Oriental garden being developed at Quinte Botanical Gardens.
Oriental garden being developed in 2016 at Quinte Botanical Gardens.

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