Introducing Our 2023 Garden Gate Reader Garden Award Winners!
When Philip Zhao and Tingshu Hu moved to their suburban home in northerly Massachusetts nearly 20 age ago , it take them 2 hour to mow the 1 - acre lawn . This was n’t how they wanted to spend their time outdoors . So they set a goal of reducing their lawn by half , which they hoped would cut down down on water usage and lawn discourse . Now they tend a mates of declamatory vegetable plot , countless flower and shrub border , three pond , twogreenhousesand even a flock of chickens . learn ourTalk & Tour videointerview above and read more about this couple ’s originative efforts and see the great - looking result below .
Tingshu , a professor of electrical and computer technology , and Philip , a computer engineer , have planned and action every project themselves . Along the way , they ’ve experimented with young industrial plant , faced challenge and built some pretty innovative garden body structure . All of these factors led us to select them as Garden Gate ’s 2023Reader Garden AwardWinners .
Entry garden with multiseason interest
The beautiful margin along the front path above holds a diverse mix of shrub , perennials and annual , and plant lover Tingshu has carefully planned it to display color in all four seasons . She accredit the new perennials ’ and bush ’ fast increment to the poulet manure compost they used to better the dirt throughout the garden .
In leap , visitors are greeted with bulbs and spring - flower shrubs . Summer perennials include false indigo ( Baptisia australis ) , geum ( Geumhybrids ) , salvia ( Salviaspp . and hybrids ) and gloriosa daisy ( Rudbeckia hirta ) .
In drop , dahlias(Dahliahybrids ) andzinnias(Zinnia elegans ) add their colouration to the commixture . Finally , in wintertime , conifersof many color , such as golden falsecypress ( Chamaecyparisspp . and hybrids ) , green arborvitae ( Thuja occidentalis ) and dwarf profane spruce ( Picea pungens‘Globosa ’ ) , keep things interesting . But the couple ’s garden journeying actually began in the backyard . Keep reading to see where it all begin .
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A beautiful backyard destination
When the couple started their first garden undertaking in the backyard , they each had a goal in mind : Tingshu wanted a showy centrepiece Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the backyard . She select a ‘ Prairie Fire ’ flowering crabapple ( Malushybrid ) for its promising pink blooming in spring , yellow fall foliage color and red berries in late fall and winter . The birds savour eat the Berry , and in act , she gets to watch them banquet out the window from her dining room table .
Philip wanted a backyard destination that include a seat area and a pond . They coalesce their desire for a centrepiece tree diagram and a destination blot into the design above . In keep with their plant natural selection philosophy , they looked for fellow traveller plant that would sum up colour in every season .
A arras of low - maturate plants , such as variegated wintercreeper ( Euonymus fortunei , favorable sneak Jenny ( Lysimachia nummularia’Aurea ' ) and ground covering fire sedums ( Sedumspp . and hybrids ) , keep weeds down between other plants in the beds above . When Tingshu places a smaller plant , such as coral bells ( Heucherahybrids ) , in this area , sometimes she encircles it with edging to keep the more - fast-growing ground overcompensate from whelm it .
Pathways frame the garden
Philip initially plan a path to curve through the backyard , but once the pavers arrived , he gain that a straight itinerary would need him to cut a lot less Oliver Stone . So they decided upon the layout above instead . Now they ’re well-chosen that they made that last - instant alteration , as the straightforward lines draw up the lush , always - switch bed and border nicely .
Self-sustaining pond
As you look from the house toward the back of the property , the path leads to a modest patio and the 9×12 - foot pool above . Here , the water lily ( Nymphaeahybrids ) and other plants filter the waste from the goldfish , which eat mosquito larvae and other louse . In fact , Philip says that he ’s mostly stopped filtering the water or feed the Pisces the Fishes because the pool almost takes care of itself . They just require to divide the water lilies every couple of years .
Practical (and subtle) greenhouse
A few age ago , they lost a tree diagram at the back of the property and settle to install a greenhouse in that spot . The duad needed more space for come starting , overwinter tropic plants and growing vegetables year round in the zone 5 garden . you may just see the faint - colored ceiling of the 26×10 - foot social organization in the photo above . Because they did n’t desire the body structure to dominate the position in the backyard ( and wanted to use geothermal zip to power it ) , the couple and their family hired hand dug the 6 - foot - deep foundation . This imply that it rises only 5 feet above the soil ’s surface and to inscribe , you pace down into the partially sunken glasshouse .
In winter , theygrow leafy greens . And sometimes the cherry red Lycopersicon esculentum will last until Christmas . Tingshu also overwinters myrtle ( Myrtus compacta ) and figure ( Ficus carica ) in the social system and scram an former start on vegetables as well as cannas ( Cannahybrids ) and dahlias , so they ’ll start out blooming as betimes as possible outdoors .
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The front-yard garden started with a picket fence
finally the couple had occupy most of the backyard and sideyards with gardens . And then they decided to enclose part of their front yard with a 3 - foot - grandiloquent piquet fencing to give their Havanese dogs , Didi and Luke , a place to run . But Tingshu could n’t just leave a unadulterated backdrop like a piquet fencing plain ! So the couple started digging in 3 - invertebrate foot - wide recurrent border on both sides of the fencing so that both they and their neighbors could enjoy the show .
Then theydividedand incite ornamental grasses , Russian salvia ( Perovskia atriplicifolia ) , catmint ( Nepeta racemosa ) and other perennials from other spots in the garden into the beds . As the garden has maturate , they ’ve found themselves dividing more and more , whether out of requirement or just to portion out . Philip says , “ A twain of time a twelvemonth we open up our garden to friends . Most of the time they do n’t leave empty - handed . ”
At 3 foot improbable , the picket fence in the front yard is n’t technically tall enough to deter deer , but they do n’t seem to jump it . The couple call up the 3 - foot - wide-cut plantings on either side may be part of the reason . ( And there ’s wad for cervid to feed outside the fence too . )
A practical solution for grub damage in a lawn
When grubs kill off a section in the eye of the front lawn recently , instead of reseeding it with turfgrass , Tingshu and Philip planted the area withdrought - patient of perennialsyou can see above , such as dianthus ( Dianthusspp . and hybrids ) , coreopsis ( Coreopsisspp . and hybrids ) and magniloquent sedum ( Hylotelephium telephium ) .
A machinelike lawn moweris the newest gain to the front yard . The perennial boundary line next to the scout fence used to have cut edges , but to make the lawn mower work more swimmingly , Philip has been installing a paver edging this twelvemonth .
Tight plantings keep weeds down
Near the front doorway , low - grow plants weave together so tightly that they keep weeds down .
Reseeding plants mean the garden is always changing
Many of the plant , such as the Johnny jumping - ups unfermented alyssum and gloriosa daisy , reseed , so it never looks the same from year to class , or even season to season . As the weather heat up in summer , the Johnny jump - ups start to fade and the gloriosadaisiestake over . When the reseeders issue , Tingshu edits the garden , leave patches in areas where she wants them , and pulling them where they would elbow out other plant .
Escape to a tranquil patio & water garden
Inspired by shallow koi ponds he ’d seen in Japan and China ( and limit in depth by eat up fibre optic cable ) , Philip build this 1 - metrical unit - deep pool last year . Not only is it pretty to face at , but he designed it to black market the urine through an aquaponic plantation owner boxful that he built , where the plant use the fish waste and the filtered water is give into the pond . This system boil down the frequence with which the filter need cleaning throughout the year .
The pool is too shallow to deem the Pisces safely over the winter in this zone 5 garden , so the couple build another 250 - congius tank in the indoor sunroom above . It use the same technique to black market the waste piddle through aquaponic planters .
Garden details
With the sound of water , a complex body part overhead and a topographic point to sit and watch the Pisces , this is a dainty spot to seat with morning coffee or during a work severance .
Giving angle a shoes to hide is essential to protecting them from predators like raccoons and Hero of Alexandria . The walkway that spans the pond provide a nice advantage point for hoi polloi but also offers cover for the Pisces the Fishes .
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Plants in every possible spot
The pockets in these concrete stoppage are double-dyed for small yearly , such as Yellow Charm ™ bidens ( Bidens ferulifolia ) , Laguna ® Sky Blue lobelia ( Lobelia erinus ) and mellisonant alyssum . The engine block also create a raised layer for the climbing rose ( Rosahybrid ) and clematis ( Clematishybrid ) that Tingshu is check up the posts of the arbor .
Front yard vegetable gardens
Although the couple has institute more than 100 trees and shrubs throughout the property , the front M is sunny , so it ’s the stark place for the five raised veg beds of various sizes . This is where theygrow garlicfor the tasty scapes ( flower stem ) and the bulbs , as well as stalk sugar , an Asiatic green grown especially for its stems , rather than its leaves . Tingshu saute and quick pickle them .
How to prevent rabbit (and other critter) damage
Although the picket fence does a with child job of keep Didi and Luke in the yard , it does n’t keep the rabbits out . So Tingshu and Philip staple a length of chicken conducting wire to the fencing to foreclose rabbits from browsing in the veg beds and peak borders . To make it extra good , they swallow the chicken conducting wire 3 to 4 inch into the dirt as well .
Rabbitsaren’t the only critter that visit their garden : vole eat the lilies and tulips , squirrels seem to enjoy the fruit trees , and a black bear even occasionally ramble through , especially when the sweetcornis ripe . With all the rain they had this year , slugsalso set about eating many of their perennials ’ leaves .
No matter what the challenge , they approach it scientifically , researching options , then testing dissimilar method for effectiveness .
Secure fencesseem to be the large aid against most four - legged pests . But so far , winter housing has been the best defense against the voles who eat the roots of dismal fescues , shrub roses , and lots of other plants in every time of year .
Weather challenges in the garden
This year ’s biggest challenge , though , was the atmospheric condition : Nothing breaks a gardener ’s heart like a hard freezing after all of the trees and bush have bud in May . They lose most of their apple , pear and peach crops , all but the very bottom rhododendron blooms and the first flush of rose bud . Although you could drape row binding on some thing to protect them in a cold snap , it ’s impossible to get to everything . On the bright side , however , because they had so much rain in the summertime , they did n’t call for to irrigate much .
Every time of year and every year is different — new projects , new challenges and nature ’s surprises keep garden interesting .
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