Profile: The garden at the corner

At this stop sign, cars pause longer than necessary to take in the beauty!

The garden at the corner

Jeremy Locke and James Queen have converted property challenges into functional and beautiful garden solutions

Jeremy Locke and James Queen moved into their corner-lot, ranch home four years ago. At that time, there were a few trees and shrubs including a ‘Crimson King’ maple, which provides shade for the front of the house, a redbud, an arborvitae, some boxwood, and a weeping mulberry. Four years later, with the addition of hundreds of plants and a lot of hard work, their garden is a showplace.

When I first saw the garden, I was amazed at how much they had done in just the past year alone. Jeremy, a landscape designer by trade, says the landscape tells him what to do—or James does. They work well together as Jeremy is the designer and James is the builder. Jeremy said he also considered where their dogs liked to run and planned the garden around them as well. (Sonya the cat didn’t have an opinion.) Jeremy and James were Ferndale residents previously and something they brought with them from that garden, other than a few plants, was the pond. (Well, it didn’t literally come with them—just the fish.) From their experience at that garden, they knew they wanted the pond to be larger than the 1,000-gallon original. They found that the 20 fish they started with turned into 100 quickly, so in this new garden, the Lisa Steinkopf fish are happily accommodated in a 7,000-gallon, roomy underwater habitat. To enable the fish to stay Jeremy Locke (right) and James Queen are the designers and caretakers of this wonderful garden.

The garden path leads to the pond and garden shed with Pepper the dog leading the way. in the pond through the winter months, they installed a bubbler, which runs all year. The pond, along with the surrounding plantings, is a pleasant focal point and the sound of the waterfall is a lovely backdrop while relaxing on the patio.

Though they had no problems with predators bothering their fish for the first two years, a great blue heron eventually discovered their underwater smorgasbord. Consequently, Jeremy and James had to install a water scarecrow and lines around the pond to deter the unwanted fisherman.

They also have had to deal with another predator, but this is a plant predator: deer. Jeremy says he tries to use only deer-resistant plants when possible and uses Milorganite in the yard to help deter them.

The soil in this garden is sandy, so compost is incorporated into all the planting beds and organic granular fertilizer is used on everything in the garden. A thick layer of mulch is added to the planting beds to keep the soil moisture in, but they feel mulch isn’t enough. “You must condition the soil and add compost for best results,” says Jeremy. They clearly know what they are talking about, as their lush garden attests. Automatic irrigation hasn’t been added yet but is on the list of things to be done after all the planting beds are finished.

One of the newer additions is a vegetable garden. They have incorporated raised beds and are growing pumpkins, tomatoes, and multiple kinds of veggies and herbs. Other edibles in their garden include fruit trees such as ‘Honeycrisp’ and ‘Yellow Delicious’ apples, ‘Rainier’ cherries, and blueberry bushes. In an area near the house next to the veggie garden is another new project currently being installed: a secret garden, with a small seating area plus a fairy garden.

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Sometimes unfortunate things happen that seem horrible at the time, but have great outcomes. One of those nightmares was water in the house basement, which caused Jeremy to look at the landscape in a new light. The house and garden are at the bottom of a small hill and all the street water runs into their yard. Whenever it was a particularly rainy time, water became an issue. So how did they rectify the problem? Jeremy built a swale garden.

A swale is a ditch built to slow and direct the flow of rainwater so that it has a chance to sink into the soil. So, in the corner of their property at its highest point, Jeremy designed a swale to intercept some of the water flow before it reached the house. He dug a ditch approximately 2-1/2 feet deep and lined it with a rubber pond liner. He then added a mix of compost and existing soil on top of the liner. Moisture-loving plants were added along the edges, including variegated cattails and cardinal flowers. In the middle and deepest part of the ditch, gravel was added, and the water runs downhill along the gravel stream when it is raining. During dry times, it looks like a rock-strewn, dry riverbed. Problem solved—with an aesthetically appealing solution.

In yet another problematic area of the property, there is an ugly cement culvert near the corner. The couple decided mowing The front walk is lined with flowing grasses repurposed from a client’s landscape.

The sun highlights plantings around the pond.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LISA STEINKOPF

around the culvert would become unnecessary if they created gardens around it, removing the high maintenance grass. In its place they planted a pollinator garden that not only stops cars, but also butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and moths. It is filled with butterfly bush, echinacea, lobelia, Russian sage, sedum, and more. The textures and colors of the plants are well matched and one would never know a large cement eyesore is hiding amongst the flowers. Now, as one rolls up to the stop sign, that corner garden makes drivers want to sit and stare longer than necessary in this quiet neighborhood.

Jeremy and James have created a wonderful landscape surrounding their home. A mix of trees, shrubs, and perennials invite pollinators to stop which adds another dimension to the already gorgeous gardens.

Lisa Steinkopf is The Houseplant Guru. Check out her newly updated website and blog at www.thehouseplantguru.com. Contact Lisa to speak at your next club meeting or event (houseplantgurulisa@gmail.com or 734-7481241). Follow her on Facebook (Facebook.com/ HouseplantGuru), Twitter (@houseplantguru), and Instagram (houseplantguru).