The Orr’s Garden…2012
Evolution of a Garden
We moved in to this house in January, 1961 and our garden began about April that year. We had, pretty much, a “clean slate.” The “tract house” was 3 years old and set on a bed of recently stirred Harrison Township yellow clay. We tried a small vegetable plot, worked on when not diapering boys or painting celadon green over the mustard yellow of the house. In the landscape, there were a few of the usual players: smallish cedars, baby sumac, and sassafras groves, plus “imported” tamarix and mimosa bush/ trees.
The lot seemed vast and empty.
We engaged Marjorie Peterson, Columbus’ only landscape architect, to suggest a plan for a good start, which included many spruce trees from Schneider’s Nursery on the west side of Seymour. This was before the landscaping boom!! We ordered 42 trees and shrubs from the infamous Michigan Bulb Company ($5.95) which arrived in our Route 5 mailbox. They all lived, and much later cost $400 just to remove one NorwayMaple.
Evolution of a Garden
We moved in to this house in January, 1961 and our garden began about April that year. We had, pretty much, a “clean slate.” The “tract house” was 3 years old and set on a bed of recently stirred Harrison Township yellow clay. We tried a small vegetable plot, worked on when not diapering boys or painting celadon green over the mustard yellow of the house. In the landscape, there were a few of the usual players: smallish cedars, baby sumac, and sassafras groves, plus “imported” tamarix and mimosa bush/ trees.
The lot seemed vast and empty.
We engaged Marjorie Peterson, Columbus’ only landscape architect, to suggest a plan for a good start, which included many spruce trees from Schneider’s Nursery on the west side of Seymour. This was before the landscaping boom!! We ordered 42 trees and shrubs from the infamous Michigan Bulb Company ($5.95) which arrived in our Route 5 mailbox. They all lived, and much later cost $400 just to remove one NorwayMaple.
We lived in this house (now 52 years) with a progression of remodeling; fortunately, we came to know Frank Adams, who was our planner for successive stages of house change. And, too, we needed some help on up-dating our so-important outdoor living spaces. How lucky we were to know Storrow & Kinsella and Dean Schertz to help us and hold our hands. This professional advice helped determine the “Bones of the Garden”...summer or winter, the bones keep a stable effect and define the vision from which we grow.
During those early years, we had the lake seaweed delivered to our beach for mulch, and Tom brought home containers of sawdust from his routes to out-of-town work. We both picked up bagged grass clippings whenever we could. We composted the stuff from our fall gardens, weeds. and kitchen parings. We always had a pile of sand and/or mulch around. Daniel had his first garden just across the driveway on Aileen Marshall’s ground, where we had used up most of the piled sand, and when Dan was gone to school, my Dad, our Grampa Kolb, really took that space over and expanded it. What a riot!
For years we had an asphalt tennis/basketball shoot/exercise court. That changed upon the final remodeling and now all the court has given way to vegetables and fruits…in memory of Dad and husband Tom. The east tennis fence is very handy for long beans and luffas, but the real prize is that the sun never sets on that garden, thanks to Gretchen Sigmund’s gift to the memorial…one of her famous Suns painted on the old backboard. We are hoping to send some hop vines up there soon to tie it all down. Other art includes sculptures by Bob Pulley: my interpretation… bird-like forms, and an acrylic painting series, “Peaceable Kingdom,” after Edward Hicks, by son/brother, David.
OUR ORGANIC EFFORTS
Our aim always was for as much edible landscape as possible; we did not have perfect success. Things change in the landscape and the microclimates swirled!! So, vegetables, fruits, and always as much of a collection of herbs as I could muster, have been doing quite a tango. I wanted an English Garden look, but things would just sort of get out of hand. I used mostly gift “starts” from friends and it seemed the fancier lovelies just couldn’t find supreme happiness. However, I just love the changing vistas from my windows and from my walks around the whole thing. We wanted a definite path around the entire space; a section of that is deemed “The Jungle Walk.” It makes easy access to the whole garden.
Composting was always a part of the plan and we try to keep most of our waste stuff in a recycling mode and the path makes delivery easier. Each professional plan was supposed to make things simple…low maintenance. Wow, now that’s a hard one. There will be work, but it’s good, usually fun, and always rewarding. Water is also an expense. Having a real complete mulching in March saves the day and also helps conserve moisture. Maintenance is easier with composting on site instead of having to haul stuff away.
My mother-in-law, Sophia Isabella Orr, was an organic gardener from ‘way back and passed on her magazines, passion, and info to me. “Organic Gardening” in the 50s and 60s was a small pulp pamphlet telling the story we hear much more about today. Ruth Stout was queen of compost and is still revered today by Permaculture people. This term, permaculture, actually means developing permanent (though ever-evolving) soil structure with little disturbance or plowing that disturbs the microbial wonder-world supporting healthy, disease-resistant plants.
Our aim always was for as much edible landscape as possible; we did not have perfect success. Things change in the landscape and the microclimates swirled!! So, vegetables, fruits, and always as much of a collection of herbs as I could muster, have been doing quite a tango. I wanted an English Garden look, but things would just sort of get out of hand. I used mostly gift “starts” from friends and it seemed the fancier lovelies just couldn’t find supreme happiness. However, I just love the changing vistas from my windows and from my walks around the whole thing. We wanted a definite path around the entire space; a section of that is deemed “The Jungle Walk.” It makes easy access to the whole garden.
Composting was always a part of the plan and we try to keep most of our waste stuff in a recycling mode and the path makes delivery easier. Each professional plan was supposed to make things simple…low maintenance. Wow, now that’s a hard one. There will be work, but it’s good, usually fun, and always rewarding. Water is also an expense. Having a real complete mulching in March saves the day and also helps conserve moisture. Maintenance is easier with composting on site instead of having to haul stuff away.
My mother-in-law, Sophia Isabella Orr, was an organic gardener from ‘way back and passed on her magazines, passion, and info to me. “Organic Gardening” in the 50s and 60s was a small pulp pamphlet telling the story we hear much more about today. Ruth Stout was queen of compost and is still revered today by Permaculture people. This term, permaculture, actually means developing permanent (though ever-evolving) soil structure with little disturbance or plowing that disturbs the microbial wonder-world supporting healthy, disease-resistant plants.
Which brings us to what Daniel and I are trying to do today…we are creating “guilds” around the new fruit trees, using cardboard to smother grass and weeds in new or extended beds, and going for lasagna gardening. Daniel has instituted a bee hive...they are happy bees…and should help all our flowering plantations. We’ve finally gone for construction of a fence topped with solar powered wire to discourage deer; the bottom smaller wire is partially buried to control rabbits. Otherwise, we cover plants in the landscape with black netting. So, it’s mostly veggies, fruits, herbs, flowers, and foraged good weedies that we grow and gather.
Much goes to FARMbloomington on a regular basis. Daniel chooses unusual varieties and items that will not be in the regular market. He has daily “Special Plates” with these items that are not on the regular menu with the note to come early before they are “sold out”! A really special new trial is the hazelnut bed with truffle sporum on the roots. In a few years we hope we will need a trained truffle dog…they are so cute!
The Orr Garden is at 9232W Tulip Drive, South Harrison Lake
Much goes to FARMbloomington on a regular basis. Daniel chooses unusual varieties and items that will not be in the regular market. He has daily “Special Plates” with these items that are not on the regular menu with the note to come early before they are “sold out”! A really special new trial is the hazelnut bed with truffle sporum on the roots. In a few years we hope we will need a trained truffle dog…they are so cute!
The Orr Garden is at 9232W Tulip Drive, South Harrison Lake
all photos by don nissen, all rights reserved