THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410140236
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Joseph and Mildred Kirsch of Deep Creek don't have a yard, they have a park.
The bucolic setting around their home has been selected as Deep Creek's ``Yard of the Month.'' The competition is sponsored by the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council and supported by Chesapeake Master Gardeners, who act as judges.
The council selects citizens who beautify their neighborhood by maintaining well-kept yards. From April through September, a different area of the city is highlighted.
Each month a winner receives a $50 gift certificate from White's Old Mill Garden Center, a certificate and the right to display a sign designating the winning yard as ``Yard of the Month.''
The judges chose the Kirschs' yard by the Deep Creek canal for its natural yard-like appeal.
Joseph Kirsch has lined his property's entire landscape - flower bed borders, walkways and even a full-sized wishing well - with cobblestones, stones he's salvaged from different places around South Hampton Roads.
``I have searched all over Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Norfolk for older streets to find where cobblestones are being removed,'' he said. ``I clean them up and use them whenever I can.''
The stones are used in a series of walkways and borders throughout the Kirsch property, giving off the feeling that one is in a quaint little park one finds in Europe or an older U.S. city.
``Winding cobblestone walkways beckon one to stroll through shady pathways,'' according to Gail McClure Bradshaw, of the Special Programs office of the Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Department. ``A comfortable swing is placed perfectly for viewing activities on the Deep Creek canal and the Locks Park is visible across the waterway.''
Cobblestones line flower beds of azaleas, hemlock pines, camellias and trees, including an old, majestic magnolia tree.
``Although beautiful,'' Bradshaw wrote, ``it requires no weeding because of the natural setting.''
``My wife and I do have to pick up a lot of sticks that fall from our trees, however,'' Joseph Kirsch said. ``Our camellias are special because they were grafted by my friend, Fred Heutte.''
Flowers aren't the only living things found in the Kirschs' yard. In fact some water creatures make their way into the Kirschs' decorating schemes.
``Thirty-seven Canadian geese visit us,'' Mildred Kirsch said. ``And we put corn on a special feeder for squirrels. We also catch one-half to a whole bushel of crabs everyday from the canal.''
McClure wrote that Joseph Kirsch has a fascination for crabs. He carefully cleans them and incorporates them into table arrangements and fashions many more into nautical Christmas decorations.
More information about the competition is available by calling at 547-6411.
- Eric Feber ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Joseph and Mildred Kirsch's Deep Creek Yard of the Month includes a
wishing well.
by CNB