Residents of Pitt Meadows can look forward to a new public park after the city purchased an estate property along Harris Road.
The future public garden will be located at the Rose Grabenhorst estate at 13895 Harris Road, five acres of land – featuring close to 800 rhododendrons, unusual plants, and more than 100 species of mature trees – located north of Lougheed Highway in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
“Council is honoured to have this opportunity to commemorate long-time resident Rose Grabenhorst and her beautiful property and garden she stewarded for 45 years,” noted Mayor Bill Dingwall.
“It’s not often the City has the chance to acquire new park land for our community, and we are excited about the potential of this natural space.”
Grabenhorst was an avid gardener, environmentalist, member of the Pitt Polder Society and an active community member with a passion for gardening.
In the 1970’s the Grabenhorst property was used as a horse pasture and then converted to a Christmas tree farm in the 1980’s.
Since 1990, Rose Grabenhorst planted more than 700 rhododendrons and transformed the land into a woodland garden with natural walking trails.
The City plans to expand the natural surface trails and gardens within the park to provide nature and environmental education programming, and will be exploring opportunities for a future Place of Remembrance.
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The city’s Chief Administrative Officer Mark Roberts elaborated that the property is an excellent addition to the City’s outdoor park space for the community, noting that it aligns closely with many aspects of the City’s recently completed Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan.
Grabenhorst’s family is happy that their mother’s legacy will live on in Pitt Meadows. Her daughters Diana, Tina and Monica are hopeful the community will get to enjoy the garden space.
“We hope the community will spend time in her garden and appreciate the hard work and passion that created this special place,” they said.
The City will be making plans for park renovations and improvements as part of 2023 business planning with the goal of opening the Rose Grabenhorst Garden to the public.
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