“ The kiss of the sun for pardon The song of the birds for mirth One is nearer God’ s heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth.”
and make it more intimate,” he explains.“ The trees are the‘ bones’ of the garden. It takes 3 – 4 years to see any kind of drastic change in them.” Taking advantage of his blank canvas, Tim decided to work with the natural landscape and chose plants with spectacular presence.“ Chewsville was softer colors. With all this sun, I thought I’ d go for vibrant colors here.”
Positioned on a hill, the backyard slopes upward and is dominated by rock outcroppings, which Tim skillfully incorporated into the design by making larger ones a focal point, and digging up smaller ones and working them into the landscape.“ Some rocks you can’ t move, so you just work around them,” he jokes.
These organic beds are filled with new plantings and flowers Tim transferred from his old home and flanked by two languishing butterfly bushes— the only original plants on the property.“ I cut them back, then they flourished,” Tim says.
“ I wanted to create a more‘ cottagey’ look, so I brought boxwoods from Chewsville, dahlias and perennials.” To these he added Ajuga( a mounding ground cover with purple flowers) for texture, daylilies, vibrantly colored Zinnias, yarrow, calandrinia and stately snapdragons for height and color, all interspersed with lamb’ s ear, variegated sage and various forms of Salvia. Tim planted more than 400 daffodils for early blooms. He adds annuals in the summer for color, and mums in the fall.“ I synchronize my planting so there’ s always something coming up. There will be something blooming from when the snowdrops come up in February until the frost kills everything in the fall.”
Several of the plants in this part of the garden have a history, like Tim’ s Japanese tree peonies, which were historically developed only for the emperor’ s garden in Japan.“ They are similar to herbaceous peony, which dies down, but it keeps its wood.” He then points to an antique yellow and purple Iris.“ It was a gift from a friend when I was 12. I’ m 64 now. I kept it in a box for years until I had my own garden.”
A colorful arbor designed to attract butterflies and visitors alike signals our transition from the back of the yard to the front courtyard. Flanked by Nicotiana( flowering tobacco), the bright red cardinal flower draws hummingbirds, while coral honeysuckle from Williamsburg, Va., and passionflower offer long-blooming, trumpet-shaped flowers and intricate green vines.
Adjacent to the square courtyard stands an old above-ground root cellar that Tim uses to store bulbs and supplies during the winter months. In the center is a sundial, surrounded by Jacqueline du pré heirloom roses and tiny, precise boxwoods.“ Boxwoods make the garden interesting. Even in winter.” A St. Fiacre statue stands guard here, too, holding a spade and a bible next to a sign with a quote by Gertrude Jekyll, an influential British horticulturist, which reads,“ I hold the firm belief that the purpose of a garden is to give happiness and repose of mind.”
Well-known Hagerstown artist R. Benjamin( Ben) Jones would probably agree with this sentiment, as he has been inspired to spend many an afternoon painting flowers and scenes from Tim’ s garden.“ I was searching for butterflies to paint and came upon( Tim’ s) house. I knocked on the door and discovered we knew each other,” Ben recalls. His paintings“ Garden Path,”“ Chewsville Garden,”“ Country Garden” and“ Cottage Window” all depict Tim’ s Chewsville gardens.“ I guess I just liked being there. There was a feeling that made me feel like painting,” Ben says.
Tim says he learns from other gardeners in his local garden club, and that his passion started as a small child in East Baltimore.“ My mom would spank me because I’ d go up to the railroad tracks to get dirt. I planted potatoes, carrots, turnips and onions in cans lined up on the window sill.” But mostly, his success comes from experience.“ I don’ t ever sit still. I’ m constantly moving around. I’ m supposed to be cutting back— good thing this limited space helps me keep it under control. This is my little corner of the world, and I’ m gonna make it beautiful.” §
H8 HM @ Home 2013 | www. hagerstownmagazine. com