6 THE CHARBONNEAU VILLAGER September 2021
Charbonneau neighbors grow garden together
Residents create colorful front yards
LEFT : Three for others to enjoy
Charbonneau neighbors
By CLARA HOWELL
Three Charbonneau neighbors came together to add some color to their street for other residents to enjoy .
Jean Brault , Joe Kremers and Dave Janney created gardens on Southwest Arbor Lake Drive that have quite literally stopped people — even dogs — in their tracks .
While the significant weather events this year with the ice storm and heat wave did impact the garden and bushes , most of
“ We put the work in and you can ’ t be out in the yard without someone saying , ‘ Oh , it ’ s beautiful . We really love this .’ So it ’ s rewarding .”
— Dave Janney the flowers held up well . Though the neighbors claimed some of the flowers and bushes grew much taller last year .
“ Gardening is fun ,” Joe said . “ If I was by myself somewhere you wouldn ’ t be seeing this . It ’ s for the other folks .” The neighbors created gardens both in front of their homes and in between them since their properties are adjacent to one another .
Jean and Joe created a pathway between their two pieces of property . They said it was like a bog and hardly anything grew in that area . It also needed a draining system , which is now in place , and the area is abundant with plants .
“ That was something we did together , Joe said .
Dave said the area he helped work on was full of clay and not conducive to growing plants . There were stones scattered in that area and Dave said
The three Charbonneau residents say they worked on their gardens as a gift for the community .
they took those stones and created a path between his house and Joe ’ s house . Dave has a dog named Nitro and Joe keeps treats at his home for the dog so they named their shared path “ Nitro ’ s Path .”
“ The old adage : You get back what you put into something . We put the work in and you can ’ t be out in the yard without someone saying , ‘ Oh , it ’ s beautiful . We really love this ,’” Dave said . “ So it ’ s rewarding .” learned to garden and honed their skills to create vibrant gardens . They focused on their gardens in front of their homes and in between them .
BELOW : Dave Janney has a dog named Nitro and Joe Kremers keeps treats at his home for the dog so they named their shared path “ Nitro ’ s Path .”
PMG PHOTOS : CLARA HOWELL
The garden includes a variety of flowers like the alyssum , zinnia and dipladenia plants along with other flowers that are bred for the heat and sunshine .
“ It doesn ’ t happen just by nature ,” said Jean , adding that there was a significant amount of dedication and work accomplished .
Joe said the garden is “ our gift to the neighbors .”
“ It ’ s a good ice breaker ,” Dave added .
Dave said he wouldn ’ t classify himself as a gardener , though he learned a lot from Joe , as well as Jean and his wife who also garden .
And the three all make sure to have equal duty watering .
The three neighbors encouraged people to stop by as they turned a “ nogo zone into a really nice zone ,” Joe said .