Gather in the Garden at the Stislow's
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Last Saturday, John and Stephanie Stislow graciously opened their garden to share what they are growing. They transformed their original lawn into a garden in phases, taking over more and more of the lawn. The original turf was lifted, turned upside down and covered with brush cut from the property before topping with a thick layer of mulch. The Stislow's gradually added plants, many coming from friends and the SMP annual plant swap. Over time, this became the verdant garden that it is today.
The front garden consists of a lot pollinator friendly ornamentals growing in large swaths. There are some herbs and fruit trees tucked into the mix. Grass pathways wind through the front to the side of the house, where they keep their compost bins and the raised beds lead into the back garden.
They are growing an array of fruit and veg in the raised beds. There are berry bushes between the beds and a grape vine growing on a trellis. The back garden contains several raised beds which Stephanie uses to grow cut flowers sown from seed. Dahlias grown from seed over winter in the ground to return each spring. Even the side of the garage, driveway and tree pits are filled with plants. Overall the garden is very lush with pockets of open space. The taller plants at the perimeter act as a screen and make the place feel very intimate.
Some light rain forced everyone to shelter under the front porch, which turned out to be quite cozy. Stephanie made an array of home made treats and lemon balm tea. Here the Stislow's answered questions, talked about their future plans for their garden and asked the guests what they were planning to do with their garden this year. The conversation eventually veered to birds, rats and sneaker waves before everyone departed.
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