New Rhododendron, Azalea Plants Brueckner Rhododendron Gardens
Eight new rhododendron gardens! Eight! All new beds, with hundreds of rhododendrons and azaleas and companion plants have been planted at Brueckner Rhododendron Garden in Port Credit (Mississauga, Ontario).
And the established beds around the Garden have been topped up with dozens of new rhodos and azaleas. Next spring promises to be spectacular with blooms!
Here are some pictures showing how the new rhododendron gardens came to be, thanks to hard work from the head gardener and staff, with help from the team at the City of Mississauga.
Breaking Ground ~ New Rhododendron Garden ~ Mississauga
One of the new rhodo gardens is located in the northeast corner of BRG, where Godfrey's Lane meets Lakeshore Road. This part of the Garden was once the site of several homes, the structures long since demolished and and the land filled in. As the Gardens team cut the new beds, concrete parts of old foundations came to the surface, and were removed from the site.
East Rhododendron Garden ~ Godfrey's Lane
Another of the new rhododendron beds was established in the East Garden. In this picture, the staff is removing stones and debris, and raking the bed to level the ground.
BRG Staff Preparing New Rhododendron Garden
The above photo is a closer look at the slope in the East Garden as staff (and a volunteer) prepare one of the new rhodo gardens. In the background, you can see a front end loader doing a lot of the heavy lifting on another of the new rhodo beds.
City Of Mississauga Crew At Brueckner Rhododendron Gardens
A group photo of the crew, with head gardener, Para, second from right, and volunteer Don, third from left. The usual complement of gardens staff on site at Brueckner is 2-4; For the new rhododendron plantings, extra staff were brought in to help with this huge project.
Delivering Peat Moss for New Rhododendron Garden Port Credit
After the crew prepared the new rhodo gardens, their work was only partly done. Then came the trucks with tonnes of compost and bales of peat moss that had to be carted to the newly prepared gardens. 
Truckload of Compost for New Rhododendron Azalea Gardens
The front end loader and cart moved the huge pile of compost and dozens of bales of peat moss to the new rhodo and azalea beds. A monumental task! Makes me weary just looking at the photo!
City of Mississauga Gardeners BRG Moving Compost, Peat Moss
Using the front end loader and cart, staff moved compost and peat moss to the new rhodo gardens, then spread them on, tilled them in and raked the new beds smooth in preparation for bringing in and planting hundreds of rhodos, azaleas and companion plants.
New Rhododendron Garden Plantings ~ East Brueckner Garden
And so the new rhododendron gardens took shape, with rhodos, azaleas and shade trees planted and mulched. The rhododendrons planted in these sunnier locations are more heat and light tolerant varieties. 
New Rhododendron Plants, Azaleas, Shrubs
This new rhododendron garden pictured above is the same one shown being prepared in the top photo on this page. Although these new rhododendron gardens are not particularly lovely to look at this summer (mostly just a bed of greenery), by next spring, the rhodos and azaleas should start pulling their weight with the established rhododendrons, and give a blooming good show!
Blooming Hydrangeas ~ Heritage Rhododendron Garden
But now, this summer, the hydrangeas step up their blooms to cheer us along until the rhodos and azaleas bloom next spring (late March to mid June, depending on weather and growing conditions). The annual beds and wildflowers, too, are in full bloom, and the hostas are lush and lovely.Do stop by and walk around this wonderful public garden! Here's a googlemap.
And for as lovely as Brueckner Rhododendron Garden is now, imagine how gorgeous it will become over the coming decades. A wonderful legacy for future generations!
(If you'd like to come help us grow, here's how on this post.)
