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2012 PROJECT GREEN GARDEN TOUR

Project GREEN Garden Tour 2012
Sunday, June 24
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
$5.00 admission, 16 and under free

Our annual Project GREEN Garden Tour will feature something new this year, because garden lovers are enthusiastic about all types of gardens, large or small, new or old! One large and mature garden will be showcased on Rapid Creek Road, north of the interstate off North Dodge Street. Next up are nine neighbors on one street, White Oak Place, which is located about one mile west of Dubuque Street off Foster Road. Stroll through the neighborhood to take in its front yard garden ideas, with a couple of beautiful backyards thrown in for good measure. This is a fairly new development, and while many of the gardens are “in progress” they are not without inspiration!

As always, bring whatever you might need—good shoes, a hat or visor, sunscreen, notepaper, pen, sunscreen, and a water bottle.

Then round out your garden day by heading to downtown Iowa City to appreciate the five-year anniversary of planters and landscaping created by Project GREEN volunteers, led by Linda Schreiber. We will entice you with a variety of incentives, including free parking and discounted offers at several downtown restaurants. Stay tuned for complete details, which will be listed on our website and in other publicity before June 24.

And recycle! We will accept the pots that you picked up from the Project GREEN Garden Fair in May. Bring them to the tour ticket tables and volunteers will recycle them for reuse next year. For more information, see the article by Sue Mullins in this newsletter.

Linda and Edward Dykstra, 4680 Rapid Creek Road NE
Hosta fanatics, tree lovers, and kids of all ages will find this large garden irresistible, even though Linda Dykstra calls her garden “a bit of a mess!” We doubt it! This five-acre woodland property on Rapid Creek Road has been developed since 1986 by the owner of Iowa City Landscaping. Visitors will be awed by the beautiful and mature specimens of bur oak and shagbark hickory, planted well before the Dykstras moved in, as well as a sugar maple and other trees that have been planted for special occasions.

Hydrangeas and other mostly shade perennials are scattered throughout the hostas, and sun lovers will also find a vegetable garden. A campsite created for the Dykstras’ grandchildren is reached by a delightful little path through the woods to the edge of the timber.

Mark and Nancy McMullen, 5 White Oak Place
After maintaining an extensive garden around their home in Bettendorf for nearly 20 years, the McMullens aimed for a simpler landscape to complement their new Prairie Style home. Since June 2010 they have incorporated some of their favorite plants, including a Japanese white pine near the front porch, dwarf mugo pines, dwarf river birch, serviceberry, and several Vanderwolf pines. Hardscape accents include geodes collected from southeast Iowa during Mark’s childhood. Lantana in planters that flank the front steps add summer color.
The heavy clay soil in some parts of the yard is in striking contrast to areas that are virtually a sandbox, and because of this Nancy and Mark have lost several shrubs and trees. Only their front yard is open, because the backyard is coping with fairly new sod—and two dogs!

George and Nancy Perry, 12 White Oak Place
Built in 2006, the Perrys’ home on several acres is bordered on the north and east by a wooded ravine that provides natural privacy and the changing splendor of the seasons. Two retaining walls, planted with a variety of perennials, ease the significant drop in elevation from the street to their backyard. These areas require very little maintenance, with the exception of fall raking.

The stone walls enhance the natural beauty of the ravine, left chiefly in its native state with the addition of several trees. From their screened porch, Nancy and George have front-row seats to watch three rubrum maples show off their stunning autumn reds. And planted on a strip of their land along Foster Road are two ‘Valley Forge’ American elms. Remember the beautiful native populations of elm trees that were wiped out by Dutch elm disease? This variety of elm is disease-resistant.

Barbara and Brian Swick, 22 White Oak Place
Building their home and trying to landscape in the flood year of 2008, Barbara and Brian battled rain, mud, soggy ground, and intermittent drought. Not much survived that first summer. And after the tough winter of 2008–09, the variegated dogwoods and boxwoods in front of the house were the only survivors.

Much of their current landscaping was designed by Barbara to complement the contemporary lines of their house. Her minimalist aesthetic is greatly influenced by the stark desert beauty of Nevada and southern California, the Swicks’ favorite vacation destination, and much of their garden is structured by hardscaping accented by a few plantings. Since her favorite plants could not survive an Iowa winter, Barbara plants agaves, elephant ears, and oleander in pots that are brought inside once cold weather hits.

Cathy and Steve Means, 25 White Oak Place
New to the neighborhood, Cathy and Steve Means have yet to live within the beautiful gardens and resting spots created on their property. They will be marveling at their gardens right along with visitors on the tour!

It was Allen Coit Ransome, the former owner-designer of the home and gardens, who was the imaginative force behind the transformation of a flat corner lot into a park-like retreat. The house is surrounded by countless trees, shrubs, groundcovers, vines, grasses, annuals, and perennials, displayed around sculpted-earth undulations. Allen's genius is reflected in the bountiful displays of color, shape, form, scent, and texture incorporated throughout the gardens, as well as such whimsies as extravagant birdhouses, a meandering dry creek bed, a unique bridge-entry, and a semiprivate stone patio with a brick fireplace.

Cathy and Steve are honored to open their gates this summer and share Ransome’s creations. They look forward to future seasons as trees mature, plants propagate, and sensitive garden management allows nature to flourish and delight.

Susan Wells, 40 White Oak Place
A couple of trees and several shrubs greeted Susan from her front yard when she moved here in December 2006. Her entire backyard, except for 12 feet behind the house, was woodland, which since has been cleared of some of the heavy growth.

Four years ago, Susan began her big adventure toward improving the yard, resulting in what she calls “an eclectic style.” Even though faced with heavy soil, flowers have thrived all around her property in large part due to soil amendments added by her friend Jeff Cave, consisting of 1/3 cotton burr, 1/3 sheep compost and 1/3 peat humus. This mix has worked well! Behind the house, Iowa City compost was used with similar success.

This do-it-yourself yard and garden is a work in progress. Gradual improvements continue even as the deer, rabbits, and raccoons offer constant challenges.

Emily and Chris Barwacz, 57 White Oak Place
After moving in two years ago, and faced with a sloping yard from the left of the house to the right, Emily and Chris elevated the right front corner with a retaining wall. Limestone was chosen for its natural look. The front flower beds are curved on both sides of the porch to present a symmetrical look to the front of the home, because they wanted to provide a balanced look from the street. Bordering the wall is their favorite planting, creeping phlox, which lights up the area with its purple blooms in the spring.

The Barwaczes’ biggest challenge has been working with the clay soil in this area. Their grass is always a work in progress, plus every new planting has required composting to aid the growing process.

Because of backyard problems and frustrations, they are offering only their front yard for this year’s tour. Last year they tried clearing out the back, originally a large field of weeds and shrubs. After several months of immense effort, they gave up and hired professionals to clear it, put down black dirt, and re-seed.  A young and energetic couple, the Barwaczes plan a future focus on the backyard to improve the look and quality of the area their children will play in for years to come.

Pat and Gerald Meis, 62 White Oak Place
When Pat and Gerald moved into their home in June 2005, the front and side landscaping had been completed as part of the contract with the builder, but the backyard was wild woodland. They wished for a shady, non-lawn landscape that was easy-care with healthy plantings.

The couple cleared the area, designed and prepared the base for a brick walk, and then obtained professional assistance to complete the walkway and to plant three river birches. For an unpredictable look, over the years they scattered hostas, daylilies, ornamental grasses, hydrangeas, coreopsis, ferns, and other perennials throughout the garden. Each year a few annuals are added to the garden beds and to pots on the deck and patio for bright color through the summer months. A small black iron fence is a favorite recent addition.

Many of us tour-goers can relate to the Meises’ claim that they are gardeners with a “very, very amateur style.” But they also have a bonus, because they can enjoy their private backyard year-round from a four-season garden room at the back of their house.

Paula O. Brandt, 67 White Oak Place
Paula and the late Lowell Brandt moved from their old bungalow with an urban pocket garden in the Brown Street Historic District to their new bungalow on White Oak Place in 2007. One goal for their new home was to “make the house so cute from the street that it would make the teeth of passersby ache!” Suburban Landscaping developed a plan that complements the front of the house, including a small fenced patio off the screened porch. A berm on the east side of the house helped separate the backyard from the sidewalk. Professional help has continued to assist Paula with additional foundation and other plantings.

Paula enjoys changing the flowers in the window box with each season, but relies on professionals for the stunning winter display each year (we’ll all have to drive by when our Iowa winter kicks in). She chooses to ignore the backyard, resigned to the fact that it belongs to the creatures—the chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, squirrels, turkeys, moles, and deer—who never let Paula forget that they were there first.

Mark and Joyce Gromko, 72 White Oak Place
When the Gromkos moved into their newly constructed home in July 2009, their lot consisted of heavy clay that required soil amendment and accommodations for drainage. The overall landscape design was worked out with professional advice and features mainly native plants and those supposedly ignored by deer and rabbits. For two years in a row, however, rabbits ate the ‘Black Lace’ elderberry to the ground, despite liberal doses of foul-smelling spray. Last year, a family of foxes kept the rabbits away—but now the foxes are gone, the rabbits are back, and the Gromkos are hoping some new ever-blooming lilacs will do well!

East of the driveway, a cobblestone rainwater runoff hosts native plants and sedges. Trying to match plants to their ideal location is challenging, because garden conditions change dramatically within the space of just a few yards. Sun beats down on the beds by the front wall. Nearby shady areas with heavy clay collect and channel rainwater and stay very wet late into the summer.

At the back (north) of the house, a tiered wall around a large window well improves the natural light indoors. When the retaining wall was rebuilt last year, their perennials were temporarily transplanted. Clematis and astilbe placed inside the window well, and spiderwort and lady's mantle planted above the wall, are now in the process of reestablishing themselves.