Gardening: June garden of the month plays with sun and shade
In three short years, Thomson created a beautiful new garden around their new house in the Elk Ridge Heights neighborhood off state Highway 27. Her efforts have won her the June Garden of the Month award from The Inland Empire Gardeners. She is one of the rare two-time winners of the award. Her first was in 2004 for her old Ponderosa garden.
The award is well-deserved. Thomson has created a serene sanctuary that doesn’t lack for opportunities to play with both shade and sun.
“I’ve always loved the color green,” she said. “So I use plants that have different shades of green in their leaves instead of flowers for color.”
At first glance, her west-facing, sunny front yard reminds you of an alpine garden. Conifers in several shades of green and blue-green are set among basalt boulders. A weeping blue spruce hugs the ground and already has begun to cover a low boulder. Next to it is a concave rock that holds just enough water for the birds and local critters to get a drink. In one corner is a weeping copper beech with dark red leaves that will turn a dusty yellow come fall. Scattered through the planting are several sun-tolerant Japanese maples. The landscaping here ties into the pine forest and rocky ridge just across the street.
“We have our share of animals here, so we had to pick deer-resistant plant material for the front,” Thomson said.
Her backyard is a perfect retreat from a hot afternoon and home to a beautifully laid out collection of shade-loving plants. The yard is narrow, but that makes it perfect for displaying her collection of Japanese maples and hostas in two long borders. She estimates she has about 35 varieties of Japanese maples; each has its own personality with different leaf colors and branching characteristics.
“Dave Daniels at Wabi Sabi Nursery has been a big help in teaching me about them and how to grow them,” Thomson said.
Her hostas also carry a wide range of leaf color, shape and size, from giant 4-foot-wide specimens to tiny dwarfs only a few inches across. Her beds are edged with bright yellow-green Japanese forest grass and patches of Japanese blood grass. The garden design is rounded out with more specimen conifers, which add strong structural texture to the softer maples and hostas. Throughout both gardens, Thomson uses a number of large ceramic pots to help create a layered look and to frame smaller plants.
The Thomsons can enjoy all of it from the large covered deck that features not only a cozy fire pit but a television for watching movies on hot summer evenings.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Thomson has all her plants labeled.
Pat Munts is co-author, with Susan Mulvihill, of the “Northwest Gardener’s Handbook.” Munts can be reached at pat@inland nwgardening.com.