Your Neighbor’s Garden / By Jackie Albarella
Mow, no more: Amherst couple's landscaping has it covered
When Gina Passantino first moved into her Amherst home, the backyard was mostly lawn. It never even came close to golf-course perfection because of all the old, shade trees looming above it and blocking the sun.
Then, in 2007, a pond with a bridge leading to a six-sided gazebo was added. This spot is where she and her gardening partner, Dean Carroll, became partners in life in an outdoor ceremony.
After the wedding, the gardening makeover continued.
At that point, Passantino had an outer ring of garden beds that followed the property line.
But, as Carroll puts it: “I didn’t like cutting the grass.”
So he made the biggest leap by digging up the entire lawn and rototilling the area to create a new garden space — one with a center bed surrounded by other beds and paths arranged in a spokelike pattern.
The paths are lined with gray slate, and the new beds are bordered with wood timbers. Carroll estimates that 10,000 pounds of stone make up the paths as well as 80 bags of mulch.
Here’s a closer look at the couple’s garden:
The pond: The pond is 8 feet long, 6 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Since it was originally built, they have added a waterfall. This year they also added fish to the pond, which will stay there through the winter.
The dirt and fill that formed the pond came from another house project the couple worked on. While finishing off a section of the basement, they discovered an area with dirt and rock. They removed it and recycled it as the foundation of the pond.
This is one example of how they like to reuse materials. Carroll also made the frame for the center bed from the wooden deck that had been crushed in the October Storm in 2006.
The beds: Each bed has a theme, and they have created shapes with groupings of plants. They save seeds to plant again the next year wherever possible, and they also have some plants that came with them from their childhood homes.
Each year Passantino digs up the geraniums and winters them over at her parents’ house and at the homes of a few other kind relatives.
A favorite bed is bright with Helen’s flower, an addition found at a local greenhouse. They shop in catalogs, trade with friends and search the local growers for something new and unique to add each year.
There is a great mix of colors, cosmos, lilies, delphinium, iris, dianthus, black-eyed Susan’s and coneflowers to name a few. They have a nice mix of annuals and perennials, a big change from when this was first built and they purchased and planted 35 flats of annuals to start filling the spaces.
There are pots full of herbs on the large deck overlooking the backyard. The herbs will come inside and be used for cooking this winter.
More in front: They recently built a very large bed that goes along the fence in the front yard.
The front yard is the showplace in spring. Passantino plants lots of multicolored tulips that welcome the upcoming gardening season. There is a lavender garden surrounding one of the old majestic trees, and along the side of the driveway is a vegetable garden. It is all organic and boasts tomatoes in square cages — with water spikes to make sure the moisture gets down into the roots — and lots of garlic, grown with seeds from Italy.
Division of labor: Carroll and Passantino have a perfect gardeners’ marriage.
“She is chaos; I am order,” says Carroll, adding that these roles reverse in other aspects of their lives.
“We enjoy it, and it balances out,” he says.
Passantino, who says she is obsessed with weeds, tackles the task of pulling them three or four times a week.
Carroll does the heavy lifting and dirty work.
“I love to get dirty. It takes me back to my childhood when I worked on farms during the summer. I find the soil very comforting, and it’s definitely not sand,” says Carroll, referring to his time served in the desert during the Persian Gulf War.
Favorite tool: Passantino admits her favorite tool is a small, cheap hand shovel. She buys five or six at a time at the dollar store because she keeps losing them in the garden.
What’s next: Passantino and Carroll plan on building a pergola next. It will grace the walkway and serve as an entry. Carroll likes working with wood and will build it himself. They also plan on moving all of the Asiatic lilies into one bed, so they will make a bigger splash in the sea of beds.
Some tips: Deadhead your day lilies for a second bloom, and keep some of the wildflowers that blow into your beds for a different look, they advise.
They also use mint in the garden as a deterrent for mosquitoes; the downside is it draws flies.
And Passantino offers this gardening advice: “Don’t do it if you don’t have time,” she says. “This is great, but you need to pick weeds routinely. If not, keep your grass and mow.”
Why they garden: “This has become our vacation; we never go anywhere in the summer because it is so beautiful here,” they say.
Carroll does all the watering. Sometimes it takes him two hours, but he doesn’t mind. It gives him time to develop a relationship with the garden, he says, and he likes to see what is changing and what is growing.
“Instead of a Zen garden where you move the sand, I move the water,” he says.
Adds Passantino: “How can you not like flowers and each year seeing what comes up? It’s a little miracle.”
Jackie@albarellamedia.com.">Jackie Albarella can be reached atJackie@albarellamedia.com.
