When a Port Moody flight attendant was grounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, he took to the soil.
Now, Francois Guernon hopes other residents of Port Moody will be inspired by his work to beautify a pair of boulevards bordering Ioco Road, just west of the old Pleasantside Grocery. Especially as the city curtails maintenance of boulevards adjacent to its own properties to save money.
Guernon first adopted the south boulevard three years ago, when he and his partner were living in a house right at the corner of Ioco and Bentley.
They’re now in the process of building a new house, so Guernon travels from their temporary digs in Coronation Park every day to tend to his guerrilla garden for 30 minutes to an hour. He recently expanded his effort to another strip across the street, conveniently connected by a signalized crosswalk.
Neighbours and passersby are noticing.
Last Tuesday several stopped to compliment Guernon’s green thumb from a safe physical distance. One was a colleague from work he never realized lived only doors away.
Drivers in passing vehicles slowed to toot their gratitude.
Guernon said those responses have been a big motivator to keep on tilling.
There’s also been donations of plants and flowers, and he’s been able to collect used coffee grounds from the Starbucks at Newport Village which he turns into the dirt to discourage moles from ruining his handiwork.
While the tulips are past their bloom, other flowers like irises, azaleas, blue bells and flowering mint are beginning to bring their own colour to the garden party. Guernon said he’s trying to put an emphasis on pollinators to help the local bee population.
Port Moody’s general manager of engineering and operations, Jeff Moi, said while the city doesn’t have a formal program to encourage boulevard beautification, residents are free to turn those strips adjacent to their property into gardens as long as they conform to bylaws and provincial regulations. He said such gardens can’t obstruct traffic or pedestrian sight lines, must not present trip hazards, and prospective gardeners should ensure any work doesn’t damage buried utilities like gas and electrical lines. They must also must be trimmed and weeded, and can’t include any permanent or fixed objects like planters.
Back at his own strip of oasis, Guernon said his daily visits to dirty his fingers are therapeutic.
He said not only is his boulevard project occupying his downtime and giving him purpose, it’s also feeding his need to stay connected to nature. And, as a gregarious native Montrealer, he loves to chat with anyone who stops by.
“We need to talk,” he said. “We have that yearning for exchange.”
