Bruce and Carole Sawyer will have their garden featured at this year’s Clarkston Garden Walk on July 17. Photo provided. Photo provided.

By Joette Kunse
Contributing Writer
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — Summertime embodies flowers and gardens. The Clarkston Garden Walk has been the gateway to Clarkston gardeners sharing their gardens.
The Clarkston Garden Club is hosting the Walk for its 18th year on July 17 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m with seven Clarkston gardeners opening their gardens to the public. The Clarkston Garden Walk is a “drive to” garden walk.
Carole and Bruce Sawyer’s garden, along a stream of the Clinton River, will be a garden featured on the walk.
A creek can be difficult to garden around, as it has a habit of moving the banks in the winter and early spring. The Sawyers have worked with the curvature of the land and creek to create a peaceful garden space along the bank.
Bruce Sawyer grew up in Clarkston and his family had a big garden and rows of flowers as well as raspberry and strawberry bushes. He says, he likes to dig in the dirt.
Carole Sawyer grew up in Warren, so the large area in her yard and small town flavor of Clarkston provided her with a peaceful respite from the city, where both Sawyers worked at the General Motors Design Center.
Carole said, “I had had my eye on my present home for a long time before we purchased it.”
When the Sawyers purchased their home, the creek area was a jungle of bushes and trees, and they didn’t know the potential of that area for the garden. They, with the help of friends, worked to remove all the brushes and trees and opened up the east side of their yard to enjoy the beautiful area next to the creek.
As you walk around the garden, you will immediately notice the slope of the land to the stream running along the edge of the property. The hilly section is terraced providing a backdrop with large rocks to contain the flower bed and planted with hydrangeas, ferns, lilies, hostas and a variety of heucheras/coral bells creating a lovely backdrop to the quiet setting.
The Sawyers have spent many hours working along the banks of a stream that meanders from Parke Lake, through the village, along their property line, then through Depot Park and out to Middle Lake and eventually into the Clinton River.
Bruce says in spring when they are working near the stream, they hear splashing and flopping in the stream and see 30 inch carp swimming upstream to spawn in Parke Lake. The fish have to move through a shallow part of the stream at the Sawyers to get to the deeper water heading toward the lake.
The Sawyers say, they have a turtle observed eating five or six inch trout in the stream. While the stream adds dimension and beauty to their property, it also changes course during high water or snow and ice melt.
The Sawyers have been flexible when planting gardens on the bank and put in steps to be able to enjoy the creek.
“I’m always learning when adding steps and pathways in the garden,” Bruce said.
Carole, whose mother and grandmother contributed to her love of gardening, says she has had to change her gardening strategies as the yard changed from shade gardening to more of a sunny focus due to losing two large trees in the yard.
Her advice to new gardeners is to don’t be afraid to try a plant if you like it, even if the tag says it isn’t suited for the shade or sun.
The Sawyers invite you to come visit their garden on the Walk.
Tickets are $15 for the Clarkston Garden Walk available at Bordines at 8600 Dixie Hwy.; Clarkston Library at 6495 Clarkston Rd., The Gateway at 7150 N. Main Street; or online at clarkstongardenclub.org at Eventbrite. Day of tickets are only sold on the library grounds for $18. Funds go for student scholarships, plantings at the library, planting of the downtown planters and the Clarkston Family Farm. For more information www.clarkstongardenclub.org, clarkstongardenclub@gmail.com or 248-514-1729.