Introduction To A Small Space Garden
OUR FIRST GARDEN IS A SMALL SPACE GARDEN. The owner, Doug, says in his
garden he wants to have fun. He wants it to look good, but doesn't want
work too hard. Doug began life in the Texas panhandle. He grew up about
3 houses from his grandmother and she, as grandmoms do, would invite
Doug down and work him hard in her garden. But she made him feel so
good while working in the garden that he, then and there, started his
love of gardening. He's retired now and decided he wanted to spend time
gardening once again. Doug bought this property while the house was
under construction, thus it allowed him to focus on the outside and
inside at the same time. First he concentrated on the hardscape because
water was running towards the house on 3 sides. Thus he needed to get
the water away from the house. The hardscape design helps alleviate the
water problem and funnel it in a direction that allows him to utilize
the water for his plants.
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Hardscaping
DOUG HAS UTILIZED A LOT OF HARDSCAPING BECAUSE THAT MEANS LESS
MAINTENANCE. Because he likes less maintenance he utilizes perennials.
Doug's best gardening tip is to use a weed cloth. He utilized one in
this garden, covering the ground completely before he planted. He then
cut holes in the weed cloth, dug holes and planted his plants. It keeps
the plants confined, they don't get overgrown and it, of course,
controls weeds. It's a big help. Joe notices a Tanacetum. It's fern
like, very soft and grows in sun and shade. Doug says a lot of people
mention it and he thinks it's a good plant, it adds a lot of texture to
the garden. Joe next notices a Primrose. It's a Missouri Primrose, the
blooms last about 1 and 1/2 days, although it requires deadheading, the
blooms last through the fall.
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Earth Ship Garden
THE NEXT HOME IS REFERRED TO AS AN EARTH SHIP. It's fully self
sustainable, very energy efficient, they generate their own electricity
and collect their own water. Behind the home and inside the walls is a
great looking garden. The owners are Tony and Janelle. Tony is a
retired New York City detective, Janelle an actress. They moved from
the east to the west because they love to ski but don't like the mess
of snow. Here they can ski in the morning, golf in the afternoon. This
is a spectacular home, garden and setting. When they found this home it
was a plain home on 10 acres with dirt all around the house. They were
attracted to it because the real landscape is the sky. Janelle always
said she wanted to live in the sky, she didn't want to cover the sky,
she wanted a place where they could sit and enjoy the night sky of
Taos, which is unbelievable.
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Landscaping The Earthship
JANELLE WANTED A LANDSCAPE FEEL AROUND THE HOUSE. That's how it began.
They had to wall in the yard in order for plants to survive because
they get wind from the west, off the gorge. The garden and
entertainment areas were positioned where they are because the house is
a solar home. It faces south and they can't cover the windows because
that's their heat source. Janelle wanted to create areas of outdoor
living, in particular a kitchen area with an overhang. Therefore they
created 2 decks at either end to create symmetry. Additionally, Janelle
had always wanted a fire pit area, a perennial garden, some grass, a
raised seedbed, an orchard and a vegetable garden. She tells Joe how
this garden took shape.
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Garden The Size of A Carport
KAAREN CHOOSE THIS SPOT BECAUSE IT AFFORDED HER A 50 FOOT BY 20 FOOT
GARDEN SPACE. This was originally a carport. She chose to close it off
and brick it to make an extension of the apartment. Gardening is
important to Kaaren and she's been resourceful with what she had to
work with, including traffic noise. There are also drainage issues,
water coming off the parking lot. The first thing Kaaren did was pick
up a pencil and paper and do a scale drawing measuring the area. She
had to address the terrible problem of the water that flows from the
parking lot. She laid down a garden hose, drew it in, edged it with
rock that she had been collecting during many, many trips that were all
within 20 miles or so.
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Balance Of Color And Sculptural Form
KAAREN WANTED A BALANCE OF COLOR AND SCULPTURAL FORM. Looking from the
back of the garden path down one gets a new perspective. Kaaren
selected plants and garden art, specifically as it pertains to form.
Form was very important to her, both in terms of sculptures from her
own collection, which have been employed, but, also in the selection of
the bushes, shrubs and trees. A good example is the light blue of the
Globe Spruce, which will become 4 and 1/2 feet around. And the Juniper
Topiary, a favorite, won't become any wider, but will get taller. If
Kaaren should fall or not be able to care for all of this, each of the
shrubs were selected so that they would fill the area without
perennials. Birds are a favorite of Kaaren's and very important. She
feeds the birds and they love to bathe here and love to roost in the
Locust tree. It's called a Lady Lace and is curvilinear. The little
leaflets fall, making great mulch, then the ribs are exposed and are
contorted.
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Lush Garden In The high Desert
ALTHOUGH IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN, THIS GARDEN IS FAIRLY LUSH WHICH IS
SPECIAL BECAUSE SHE LIVES IN THE HIGH DESERT. Pat when creating this
lush environment, felt it important to have a house with a lot of solar
gain. She doesn't use much power to warm in the winter. In the garden
she wanted, if possible, to create an environment that had a variety of
color, a variety of shaped leaves and something blooming all the time.
Joe feels she has done a great job and taken advantage of a lot of
evergreen. Pat wanted to make it as low maintenance as possible,
because she didn't want to spend a lot of time working in the garden.
She has tried to soften the walls of her house, which is adobe. She has
plants on the edges which improves the look and grows grapes around the
door. Pat has a Russian Olive Tree with a white/silver foliage. Against
the blue sky it is spectacular. It is not a native plant and does
require water.
Click here for more info
Community Butterfly Garden
THIS IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GARDEN, A COMMUNITY GARDEN. Pat
spearheaded the effort that made it possible. As it happened a few
residents were standing around and happened to notice there was a
beautiful view of the mountain but the near view was of the parking lot
and not very pleasant. A group got together and Pat was appointed to
make a garden. She thought, a butterfly garden, that has pretty flowers
and quite easy. It turned out to be a bit more complicated because
butterflies need more than flowers for nectar, they also need plants
for the caterpillars and the chrysalis. In time and as a community they
built this butterfly garden together, with contributions by people
either in the form of planting things, giving money or donating plants,
For the Monarch butterfly they have Milkweed, Alfalfa and Parsley,
plants not found in a normal garden. They now have butterflies which
have grown from caterpillars and chrysalis. It was especially fun when
inaugurating the garden, to have people in wheelchairs, for example,
come to the party where the neighbors were actually able to hold
butterflies up allowing others to enjoy them.
This week we visit the high desert of Taos, New Mexico. There are some
beautiful gardens in the middle of the sagebrush. Part of the fun of
visiting a new city is to see the gardens. It's even better when you
get to meet the people that care for them. In this show we tour some
very special gardens tucked away in some unsuspecting places. The
diversity of the people, the environment and the plants that grow here
are all something to remember.
Susan Raymond is a landscape architect registered in New Mexico and
Arizona. She lives in Taos, New Mexico and loves the area. It's located
in the high desert so it's a challenge to garden here. But the area is
filled with people passionate about gardening, passionate about their
community and motivated to give back. Susan is also President of the
Los Jardineros Garden Club of Taos. It's a non profit organization
devoted to environmental horticultural education and beautification of
public landscapes in the community. Last year, they donated $12,000 in
grants for beautification projects. Susan thinks the gardens on the
tour in this show are fantastic. There is a house on the mesa that's an
earth ship, a sustaining home that uses solar energy, a retirement
community with some very passionate gardening women and a smaller
in-town walled courtyard garden. Susan hopes everyone enjoys the tour
and invites all at some point to visit Taos.
OUR FIRST GARDEN IS A SMALL SPACE GARDEN. The owner, Doug, says in his
garden he wants to have fun. He wants it to look good, but doesn't want
work too hard. Doug began life in the Texas panhandle. He grew up about
3 houses from his grandmother and she, as grandmoms do, would invite
Doug down and work him hard in her garden. But she made him feel so
good while working in the garden that he, then and there, started his
love of gardening. He's retired now and decided he wanted to spend time
gardening once again. Doug bought this property while the house was
under construction, thus it allowed him to focus on the outside and
inside at the same time. First he concentrated on the hardscape because
water was running towards the house on 3 sides. Thus he needed to get
the water away from the house. The hardscape design helps alleviate the
water problem and funnel it in a direction that allows him to utilize
the water for his plants.
Top
DOUG HAS UTILIZED A LOT OF HARDSCAPING BECAUSE THAT MEANS LESS
MAINTENANCE. Because he likes less maintenance he utilizes perennials.
Doug's best gardening tip is to use a weed cloth. He utilized one in
this garden, covering the ground completely before he planted. He then
cut holes in the weed cloth, dug holes and planted his plants. It keeps
the plants confined, they don't get overgrown and it, of course,
controls weeds. It's a big help. Joe notices a Tanacetum. It's fern
like, very soft and grows in sun and shade. Doug says a lot of people
mention it and he thinks it's a good plant, it adds a lot of texture to
the garden. Joe next notices a Primrose. It's a Missouri Primrose, the
blooms last about 1 and 1/2 days, although it requires deadheading, the
blooms last through the fall. And, it has a nice texture. Joe thinks
the yellow looks great against the walkway. Doug has incorporated Thyme
throughout the walkway, there are 5 varieties of Thyme here. Some are
blooming right next to the purple Scabiosa, together they're a great
combination. Another area is filled with roses. This was an old
drainage ditch and somebody planted them here 150 years ago. They're
doing great, he chopped them down the first year and since then has let
them go. They require no maintenance, have beautiful blooming colors in
the spring and provide spectacular fall color. Joe hates to go but has
more to see. He thanks Doug and is off to an earth ship.
Top
THE NEXT HOME IS REFERRED TO AS AN EARTH SHIP. It's fully self
sustainable, very energy efficient, they generate their own electricity
and collect their own water. Behind the home and inside the walls is a
great looking garden. The owners are Tony and Janelle. Tony is a
retired New York City detective, Janelle an actress. They moved from
the east to the west because they love to ski but don't like the mess
of snow. Here they can ski in the morning, golf in the afternoon. This
is a spectacular home, garden and setting. When they found this home it
was a plain home on 10 acres with dirt all around the house. They were
attracted to it because the real landscape is the sky. Janelle always
said she wanted to live in the sky, she didn't want to cover the sky,
she wanted a place where they could sit and enjoy the night sky of
Taos, which is unbelievable. One sees galaxies galore plus you can see
the Taos Mountain. But she needed a green fix because in the summer,
with mostly sage surrounding the home, it's very muted.
Top
JANELLE WANTED A LANDSCAPE FEEL AROUND THE HOUSE. That's how it began.
They had to wall in the yard in order for plants to survive because
they get wind from the west, off the gorge. The garden and
entertainment areas were positioned where they are because the house is
a solar home. It faces south and they can't cover the windows because
that's their heat source. Janelle wanted to create areas of outdoor
living, in particular a kitchen area with an overhang. Therefore they
created 2 decks at either end to create symmetry. Additionally, Janelle
had always wanted a fire pit area, a perennial garden, some grass, a
raised seedbed, an orchard and a vegetable garden. She tells Joe how
this garden took shape. Because the house is solar it sits 2 feet below
ground level. She would sit inside and look out. This became her
theater. They would build the wall and the wall would block the view of
the sage but they could see the Sangre de Cristo mountain range and the
sky. Tony would say, how high do you want the wall? She, inside, would
say, put up another row of blocks. That's how they arrived at the
present height. So they built the curved wall, created the bank, then
the fire pit and the patio.
Janelle read the Secret Garden and that was her inspiration here. When
one enters the courtyard, through the gates, one doesn't expect to see
this garden. But, when one rounds a corner with a butterfly bush
blocking the view, a room becomes apparent. It's a secret room. Moving
from the east to the west didn't pose a problem when selecting plants.
She visited others gardens in Taos and thought - Oh!, Delphinium's grow
here, they also grow back east. So, she realized that the things that
grew back east could also grow here because it was a similar zone.
Thus, Janelle knew the plants that would work. That, made her
comfortable and enabled her to start gardening in Taos. Janelle takes
Joe on a tour. They discuss her seed garden. Jannell loves to plant
things from seed because it saves money and it's exciting. She looks at
the little seedlings coming up and gets thrilled. Then she takes them
and moves them around the garden. She did find plants that were more
drought resistant. Friends would give her plants, the Irises all came
from friends. They've multiplied, she's divided them and now given some
away. This type activity connects her to her friends and provides
solace when tending these beautiful creatures. Joe notices in the
edible section that there are cages. They have rabbits and rock
squirrels. The rabbits are OK, the squirrels will eat all the
vegetables. So, Tony created the cages and they work perfectly handling
the problem. She lifts the cages off at harvest or when tending to the
vegetables. Vegetables do great in this climate, except for the
tomatoes. They usually don't ripen to the red stage because they are at
7,400 feet altitude and the nights are very cool. This doesn't present
a problem, she picks them all summer, in September particularly, puts
them in a brown paper bag, takes them into her solar home and soon she
has ruby red flesh and they're great tasting.
Joe asks - with vegetables and perennials Janelle must need plenty of
irrigation and this is in the middle of the desert. How do they handle
the water problem? In the summer they have monsoons and they have a
huge roof from which they collect water. To utilize this water, they
have underground cisterns and Tony has created a drip system for
everything in the garden and it works very well.
Joe thanks Janelle, this has been fantastic but there are more gardens
to see.
Gardens in small spaces don't need to be any less interesting or
colorful. The next 2 gardeners make the most of small spaces. The
gardeners, Kaaren and Pat, are residents of a retirement community. And
their gardens are spectacular.
Top
Kaaren has a beautiful garden and has been gardening all her life.
There hasn't always been a garden at this location however. KAAREN
CHOOSE THIS SPOT BECAUSE IT AFFORDED HER A 50 FOOT BY 20 FOOT GARDEN
SPACE. This was originally a carport. She chose to close it off and
brick it to make an extension of the apartment. Gardening is important
to Kaaren and she's been resourceful with what she had to work with,
including traffic noise. There are also drainage issues, water coming
off the parking lot. The first thing Kaaren did was pick up a pencil
and paper and do a scale drawing measuring the area. She had to address
the terrible problem of the water that flows from the parking lot. She
laid down a garden hose, drew it in, edged it with rock that she had
been collecting during many, many trips that were all within 20 miles
or so. She had been gathering these rocks before she moved in. She then
needed a higher area with the path down below. With these in place, she
had the bones of her garden.
Top
She next needed to add plants. They had been drawn in at the the pen
and pencil stage. KAAREN WANTED A BALANCE OF COLOR AND SCULPTURAL FORM.
Looking from the back of the garden path down one gets a new
perspective. Kaaren selected plants and garden art, specifically as it
pertains to form. Form was very important to her, both in terms of
sculptures from her own collection, which have been employed, but, also
in the selection of the bushes, shrubs and trees. A good example is the
light blue of the Globe Spruce, which will become 4 and 1/2 feet
around. And the Juniper Topiary, a favorite, won't become any wider,
but will get taller. If Kaaren should fall or not be able to care for
all of this, each of the shrubs were selected so that they would fill
the area without perennials. Birds are a favorite of Kaaren's and very
important. She feeds the birds and they love to bathe here and love to
roost in the Locust tree. It's called a Lady Lace and is curvilinear.
The little leaflets fall, making great mulch, then the ribs are exposed
and are contorted. When covered with snow in the winter, it's
beautiful. The birds roost there all the time. There is also a Weeping
Cherry and the red bark of the Canadian Choke Cherry and a Nine Bark.
She's trying to fill in along the fence with thicker things like the
Junipers which diminish the noise of the street. There are beautiful
lower plants along the edge of the carport. She loves the area, as does
Joe. Unfortunately he must move on to another garden, thus thanks
Kaaren for the wonderful tour.
Top
Joe next visits with Pat, who has another beautiful garden in Taos. Pat
has lived and gardened all around the world. PAT FEELS THIS AREA IS
SPECIAL BECAUSE, ALTHOUGH IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN, THIS GARDEN IS FAIRLY
LUSH WHICH IS SPECIAL BECAUSE SHE LIVES IN THE HIGH DESERT. Pat when
creating this lush environment, felt it important to have a house with
a lot of solar gain. She doesn't use much power to warm in the winter.
In the garden she wanted, if possible, to create an environment that
had a variety of color, a variety of shaped leaves and something
blooming all the time. Joe feels she has done a great job and taken
advantage of a lot of evergreen. Pat wanted to make it as low
maintenance as possible, because she didn't want to spend a lot of time
working in the garden. She has tried to soften the walls of her house,
which is adobe. She has plants on the edges which improves the look and
grows grapes around the door. Pat has a Russian Olive Tree with a
white/silver foliage. Against the blue sky it is spectacular. It is not
a native plant and does require water. It is beautiful and has
wonderful blossoms in the spring, a nice scent and has berries in the
wintertime. This attracts birds which is another plus. Pat, when
designing this house had an eye towards the future. It has a raised bed
that is about 3 feet high so one doesn't have to lean over very far to
attend to it. It's looking sparse at the moment because she has been
away but soon Japanese Squash will appear. There are a lot of fruit
trees growing against the fence, the term is Espalier or training
against a flat space. This is probably a holdover from her childhood in
England and Europe. There they make use of space because it is smaller
there than here. The trees need a lot of pruning to keep them against
the fence, but they produce a lot of fruit. She has nectarines, apples,
cherries, Greengages and Damsons. In total she has 16 kinds of fruit.
There is a lot going on in a small space. She even has turf which isn't
used that much in this area. She explains, in this retirement community
they cut the grass, she likes to play croquet, so the grass is
important and sets off the rest of the garden. Pat also has grass
growing right up to an elevation change, a pond. Pat calls this a
rockery. The plants here don't need a lot of water and grow amongst the
rocks. They provide as much color as possible over a long period of
time. She has Lilies blooming in the water and a crazy Bonsai apricot
for a little bit of fun. Joe notices a wide variety of plants,
textures, colors and then flowers with bright bold colors. Birds love
the area, thus drink and bathe in the water on the fountain top.
Top
Joe and Pat next visit an area outside Pat's fenced-in backyard. THIS
IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GARDEN, A COMMUNITY GARDEN. Pat spearheaded
the effort that made it possible. As it happened a few residents were
standing around and happened to notice there was a beautiful view of
the mountain but the near view was of the parking lot and not very
pleasant. A group got together and Pat was appointed to make a garden.
She thought, a butterfly garden, that has pretty flowers and quite
easy. It turned out to be a bit more complicated because butterflies
need more than flowers for nectar, they also need plants for the
caterpillars and the chrysalis. In time and as a community they built
this butterfly garden together, with contributions by people either in
the form of planting things, giving money or donating plants, For the
Monarch butterfly they have Milkweed, Alfalfa and Parsley, plants not
found in a normal garden. They now have butterflies which have grown
from caterpillars and chrysalis. It was especially fun when
inaugurating the garden, to have people in wheelchairs, for example,
come to the party where the neighbors were actually able to hold
butterflies up allowing others to enjoy them. The people in wheelchairs
enjoyed the time and were especially pleased when the butterflies
didn't fly away. It was very moving and enjoyed by a lot of people.
This has been not only a great gardening experience but a great people
story as well. Joe thanks Pat for the tour of her garden and the
butterfly garden. The Taos tour of gardens has been most enjoyable. He
thanks the ladies in the retirement community for the chance to visit
their gardens. It has been a treat
Top
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