#2 Flower Gardens, Spring 2007

Charm and grace in a cool climate: A simple white and green color scheme gives this small backyard a serene style far removed from its inner-city surroundings.

“Thirty years ago there was nothing here but the old walnut tree and some scruffy grass,” says Katherine Johnson of the lush garden she tends with her husband Don in urban St. Paul, Minnesota.  At the time, the couple had never gardened and did not have a clue what to do with the narrow 1100 square foot lot.  They just knew the soil was good, as the area had once been farmland.  In Minnesota, the winters are cold and hard, and the summers, hot and humid.  Katherine and Don were schoolteachers who liked to escape the city heat by taking long bicycle trips.  “When we biked in England in 1977,” says Katherine, “we visited the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle.  We were completely enchanted by its White Garden.”

The first thing that struck them about the White Garden was the elegant yet simple color scheme of white and green.  The Johnson’s garden had so much shade due to the mature walnut tree that they instantly saw how white flowers would really stand out.  “I also thought with white,” says Katherine, “there would be a feeling of calm and unity, rather than busy dots of color all over the place.”  In a small urban garden, this choice proved integral to making the space seem both bigger and more relaxing.  To achieve what Katherine calls “continuity and connectedness,” certain plant species, such as Japanese painted fern and impatiens, are repeated in different parts of the garden.  Katherine also wanted to select plants that varied in shape, texture and height to create interest despite the limited colors. 

The couple set about researching plants, many of them shade-tolerant varieties, knowing they wanted a full garden with blooms from early spring to late fall.  In winter, evergreens and hardscaping could maintain the aesthetic.  On their bicycle trips, the Johnsons continued to visit gardens, keeping lists of the flowers they liked.  The plants were often not available in Minnesota, but local greenhouses gave them suggestions for substitutes.  “Initially it was hard finding white flowers because people didn’t use a lot of white in American gardens,” says Katherine.  She recalls ordering her first plant, white bleeding hearts, through a catalogue.  However, as the years passed, nurseries began to carry more white varieties, including those once challenging to find.  Katherine remains adventurous.  She sometimes orders plants more suitable to warmer climates like white Jack in the Pulpit or star magnolias, just to see what happens, relying partly on the urban heat shield.

The second thing the Johnsons sought to recreate from the White Garden was its formal lines and division into loosely defined areas called ‘garden rooms’.  “If there are plantings all over, there’s a sense of disorder,” says Katherine.  “When you enclose part of a garden into a room and give it certain focal points, it seems larger, especially if the rooms are all enclosed differently.  You don’t see all of one room, just some of it, but the idea is to see all the way to the end of the garden.  It draws you in and makes the view long.”  Don set about defining their garden rooms with hardscaping, while Katherine did the same with plantings.  Sculptures, seating, flowerbeds and fountains became focal points.

“Our garden grew by rooms in a very organic way,” recalls Katherine.  “Don used to sit outside the backdoor and have his morning coffee, so we started by defining a space that lent itself to having a drink.”  This room has a red brick path that leads to a matching bricked patio.  Katherine added more intimacy to the space by partly enclosing it with pruned Alpine currant hedges.  The furniture and umbrella became a focal point in this room that Don and Katherine call the court area.  Beyond the patio table, two yews serve as a portal into another room, while their height adds vertical interest to the garden.  Several such rooms were created by the Johnsons over time, making the garden layered and intriguing, while the sinuous statue at the very back beckons from most angles.

“The garden makes us relax,” says Katherine.  “It’s calming and at the same time invigorating, a transition from the hectic outside world to our personal world.  It’s also something we did together.  The garden gave us an aesthetic outlet, along with the physical.  It even gave us a destination for our bike rides!”  

#3 Water Gardens, Spring 2005

Pretty as a Picture: A Minneapolis couple’s water garden brings them days and nights of tranquility.

French impressionist Claude Monet drew inspiration for his water lily paintings from his water garden in Giverny.  The delicate interplay of water, plants and light led the master artist to create his most serene and restorative works.  In Minnetonka, a suburb of Minneapolis, Steve and Josey Hedberg clearly had an appreciation for what Monet captured on canvas when they chose to install a water garden in their backyard. 

The Hedbergs are not new to water gardens.  Steve has a company that sells the materials for installing water gardens and Josey used to be his dealer.  Teamwork remains an important aspect of how they work.  They conceived of and designed their water garden together.  Then Steve oversaw the construction of the water garden, while Josie selected the aquatic plants.

The water garden consists of two waterfalls that cascade into two streams, one meandering more than the other.  The streams eventually feed into two separate ponds linked by a third stream.  For plants, Josey chose local perennials as much as possible for their longevity and easy maintenance, though her tropical annuals yield showier blooms with brighter colors.  Goldfish dart among the greenery.

Steve speaks passionately of what he considers to be the focal point of any water garden.  “The pond is like a work of art,” he says.  “They use the same components, yet each is different.  People who build them, like any artist, have their own signature.”  Monet may well have agreed.