Garden of the Month for September

By Christina Stiern

At the top of a rugged gravel road in Defiance lives Gerry and Debbie Keyes. These entrepreneurs have somehow found time to maintain a beautiful garden, and to help establish a new restaurant in town.

The front garden contains many interesting layers -- evergreens, Japanese maples, shrubs, hostas, and variegated groundcover, Liriope. A stone path leads to a small pond, gently overshadowed by the arching branches of a mature Japanese maple. Tall grasses sway in the breeze. A stand of purple phlox are finishing up a great season. The setting is quiet and peaceful.

Most of the plants were acquired as hand-me-downs, or at bargain prices, even before the house was built. For several years, Gerry stockpiled plants from Green Gate Farms at wholesale prices, and brought them up to the site. He created berms of dirt, heeled in the plants, and watered them until it was time to plant them.

Gerry’s dad was a big gardener, and his mom continues to maintain a large garden. Debbie says, “Every time we’d visit, his dad would cut a piece of something for us.”

Debbie loves the azaleas most, which they have in white, pink, and red. Her children regularly used them as a backdrop for photos on Prom night. The tradition continues -- in June, their beautiful yard will be the backdrop for their son’s wedding.

I ask if there are any happy surprises in their garden, or if anything grows particularly well. “Everything grows good here“, says Gerry, followed by a story about hauling home truckloads of free compost and mixing that into the soil for several years. They also mulch regularly. Those definitely have something to do with their good luck.

Congratulations on your beautiful yard, Gerry and Debbie!

For more information on the club, or to nominate someone for the garden of the month, email BooneCountryGardenClub@gmail.com.