By Deana Lancaster

Contributing Writer
deana@nsnews.com

WHEN Ellen de Man
decided it was time for a
career change she began to
make lists of all the things
she thought she could do,
as well as the things she
knew she was good at.

The lists kept pointing her in
one direction — to gardening.
“My grandfather in Holland
had a wonderful urban cottage gar-
den. I had my first gardening expe-
rience with him. When I was five |
saw the Laburnum tree he had in
his garden and I knew right then it
would become a hobby for me
ays.

And it has been.

She belongs to the West
Vancouver Gardening, Club, judges
gardens for the North Shore
Garden Contest Society and has
been fundraising most recently for
the Communities in Bloom compe-
tition, a municipal gardening con-
test which West Van placed second
in last year.

She has spent countless hours in
her West Vancouver garden
throughout her past cight years
selling West Coast native artifacts.

“In sales you’re under such
pressure to perform,” she says.
“And I was always driving, the traf-
fic is a killer.”

So when she decided a lifestyle
change was in order, her garden
became the focus of her new, less
stressful, lite.

On Feb. 1, she and husband Jan
opened their home, Ivy Lane
Cottage, for gardening workshops.

“I've been to gardening work-
shops before and they're usually
held in a classroom somewhere,”
de Man says.

Her concept is somewhat differ-
ent, Students join de Man in her 70

by 100 ft. English cottage gar-
den for a three-hour workshop,
learning, how to assess their gar-
dens, about garden design, plant
material, composting, and much
more.

“When we are right in the gar-
den T can teach plant identification
and we can look at how things are
grown.”

© sessions are informal and

bie, says de Man. “That's what

sis all about. I’m nor taking life
so seriously anymore.”

NORTH

Her specialty is English cottage
gardens, a style she mulated
around the world: “They have
annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs,
herbs and vegetables. Lots of plants
and very little lawn.”

de Man also offers her services
as a consultant, making “garden
calls” and lending advice on garden

“For a Tee Time.

7 Y Oe woe pe
Forard4ull infrns ation ‘package call
THE TOWN. Asle: Sales Centre .

we
Crown Isle
GOLF & COU.

ESTATES

S

NEWS photos Terry Peters

design.

She will take clients to whole-
salers, where they can take advan-

r and selec-

tion, and she connect
clients with architects and landscap-
ers.

For more information, contact
de Man at 922-5345.

The Villasa
J gad

ORE

L

iday, May 16, 1997 — North Shore News — 9

IFE

Career change led
to the backyard

Elten de Man, left, made a lifestyle change when
she decided to open her home, Ivy Lane Cottage,
to gardening workshops. The classroom, below,
is de Man's English Cottage Garden. Popular
around the world, they are known for “lots of
plants and very little lawn.”

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