By Marie Jones.
Welcome back to the “Friends in the Garden” series. This week, I’m excited to introduce you to Beth’s garden.
Beth’s love for gardening comes from her father’s influence. They gardened together, and he loved nature and plants. It’s through her dad that she learned to appreciate beauty.
Beth has lovingly cared for and maintained her multi-level yard for 27 years. Visitors are immediately drawn to the clean cottage-like appeal as you arrive at her garden. Walking through the gate, your senses are greeted with lovely ornamental grasses, hydrangeas, roses, and dahlias; lining the railing leading to the front door is a fragrant wisteria vine.
You’ll find many clever and wise design elements thoughtfully put into place for this unique piece of property — for example, the ornamental grasses throughout help soften retaining walls. Also, plants have been placed in ideal growing spots along with containers on the patio to extend the many herbs found throughout the yard. There are huckleberry bushes that provide berries and stay green year-round, providing a bright background in highly visible areas. As you head down to the bottom of the yard, the stairs are lined with mature hydrangea bushes that create a beautiful, satisfying view.
A section of the yard that is a real love for Beth is her vegetable and herb plots. Much of this area is planted by seed. At the time of my visit, sweet pea and snap pea seeds were being dried for next year’s planting. In the summer, she and her husband enjoy nightly salads fresh out of their garden.ective reduction to make it less work intensive and easier to care for.
Their property is near the water, creating its own microclimate — allowing for cool evenings and not too hot temperatures during the day. This and the abundance of full sun exposure allow for ideal growing conditions.
Some of the wonderful produce gathered from this garden includes: arugula, baciccia green beans, three types of kale, wild mustard, five types of tomatoes, snap peas, several varieties of lettuce, chard, rhubarb, beets, turnip greens, and a variety of herbs. Late into the summer, beets and other favorites are still being sown, helping to stretch the harvest season even further into the late summer and early fall.
Beth’s comfortable yard has delightful spaces for people to gather and enjoy her lovingly curated and nurtured atmosphere; it’s both wildly refreshing, yet perfectly simplistic.
While visiting, I felt so relaxed and inspired, thoroughly enjoying the view of many bees buzzing away happily at work in their picturesque environment.
Each time someone walks through this garden, I’m sure new things will pop into view as there is so much to enjoy and delight in. It is indeed a blessing to have friends with a love for gardening! Stay tuned for part three.
