A Visit to the Gardens of Julia Green

I met Julia many years ago; not long afterwards, I volunteered to work on the garden at our kids’ elementary school. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Julia had taken on the role of leader of this effort. At that time, Julia was a member of Piedmont Master Gardeners — as well as a busy mom and hard-working child psychologist. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit her home gardens on several occasions. It finally dawned on me that others would find them as delightful as I did. It also occurred to me that gardeners could learn a great deal by studying Julia’s designs and plant groupings. As a result, I recently found myself — camera in hand — wandering the paths of Julia’s gardens at a most delightful time of the year — early May.

And yes, there’s more than one garden! Julia likes small gardens, and over the years she has created quite a number of small gardens, all artfully connected by pathways among the trees.  She has an artist’s eye for combining plants and for assembling the ideal background of shrubs and trees.  She’s been working this one-third acre for many years, developing her knowledge of plants and her skills in nurturing those settings.  I was eager to see what Julia had been up to lately.

I stepped off the back deck into a small yard, and the first thing that caught my eye was a round bed enclosed in a rock wall — Julia refers to it as a “spiral garden” — which had been Julia’s pandemic project. During the pandemic, she had spent those long stay-at-home hours gathering rocks from around the property and using them to build a low circling wall, now filled with petunias and pansies. At least two types of ground covers hugged the rocks and nearby perennials –creeping thyme and creeping phlox. This garden also includes two non-plant elements that Julia often employs — a container and a sculpture/garden ornament.  Although it was the latest addition, Julia had neatly fit it into the maze of pathways that connect all the gardens on the property.

 

I discovered a path at the back of the Spiral Garden and headed along to study another new feature — a salt water swimming pool. And it was clearly a gardener’s pool, bordered by plant-lined paths and decorated with container gardens.

I soon encountered a magnificent mountain laurel, which, frankly, filled me with envy. Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is a native, but can be difficult to grow and is fussy about soil.  But here it was, boldly blooming and looking right at home.  Next I came upon a hammock under a bit of shade, followed by small vegetable patches full of tomato plants.

Everywhere I looked, there were a wide variety of perennials, both native and non-native, as Julia likes playing with texture. There were a number of hostas, which would ordinarily be a surprise in this area of heavy deer browse, but there’s a good reason for this: Julia installed a deer fence 15 years ago, prior to inclusion of the garden on the Historic Garden Tour of Virginia. She was amazed at the number of plants that popped up after that — not dead, but ready to thrive again!

One  of Julia’s favorite plants is the Chuck Hayes gardenia, which winters over and blooms in both spring and fall.  She’s also a fan of a variant of our native hydrangea known as Invincible Mini Mauvette.  Its official name is unusual, and the Missouri Botanical Garden explains it as follows:

“Ncha7′ is a compact selection of smooth hydrangea that features dark mauve-pink sterile florets. The dome-shaped, mop-head type inflorescences can reach up to 5.5″ wide and are made up of both sterile and fertile florets. Mature plants will reach up 3′ tall and spread to fill a similar area. Commonly sold in nurseries and garden centers under the name INVINCIBELLE MINI MAUVETTE. Plant patent number PP30358 applies to this cultivar.”

—Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder

 

I was soon on the lookout for the water feature that Julia had installed when we were considerably younger.  When I came upon it, I was taken by surprise. It now appeared as if it were a natural occurrence. The small trees, shrubs and perennials were now mature and framed the little brook perfectly. And lo and behold, there was another mountain laurel. As is the case throughout these gardens, there were places to sit down and enjoy the view.

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One of the more beguiling aspects of Julia’s gardening is that she creates a special garden for each of her grandchildren. Some of these are still in the works. And the family’s beloved departed dogs are not forgotten either. Julia has planted new trees with their ashes.

The gardens don’t end when you climb up the steps to the back deck. There you find lettuces and herbs in a long raised bed near the kitchen door. Oh, and some caladiums, too!

So how did this amazing series of gardens get their start? With snowdrops, as it turns out. That’s because her older son’s birthday is in late January when snowdrops start to bloom. Julia plants 20 to 30 snowdrops every fall, seeking out different varieties every time. It was succession of bloom that intrigued her — the goal of a series of blooms that followed each other over time. A daffodil bulb would be placed in the bottom of a planting hole, and other bulbs added above it. Before long, Julia’s succession efforts included dogwoods — as her younger son was born in April — so she planted natives, cultivars and hybrids with varying bloom times.

I’m always curious about how a gardener got started. In Julia’s case, it was working alongside her grandmother in the garden on the family farm in Pennsylvania. Her father Bob Hammond, a country veterinarian, also had a role, and Julia fondly remembers working the PMG Help Desk with him for many years.  His bluebird houses line the paths of Julia’s gardens.

I asked Julia if she had any advice for new gardeners.  Her answers came quickly. As it turns out, this is a subject she’s been dealing with recently;  three nieces have taken up gardening, and who do you think they turned to for advice?  “Start small,” she said.  “Find an area in your yard that you like — under a tree, or with a view you admire.  A tree is ideal.  Then plant an arc of evergreens for background, and next add bulbs, plus a container for annuals, like pansies, so you’ll always have some bloom.  Perhaps add a bluebird house. Then grow from there!”

Exploring Julia’s gardens was pure pleasure. No doubt Julia’s family and friends find deep contentment along these paths. It was a joy to talk with Julia about plants, and about this wonder-filled work we gardeners engage in. I discovered that, just like me, Julia’s morning routine is to walk all through her gardens, delighting in new shoots and sprouts and the glories of nature as she goes.

SOURCES:

Photos by C.Caldwell and Julia Green