Your Neighbor’s Garden /
Your Neighbor's Garden: Eggertsville couple plants a garden escape
Gardening couple has created a parklike landscape admired by many
Carol and John Kociela have a frontyard garden that causes walkers to stop and take notice. This is just the prelude to a backyard that is as good as many public gardens. The yard the Kocielas have created is formal, yet warm and welcoming. It is the kind of parklike setting that reinforces why gardeners do what they do.
Each year in their gardens, the Kocielas move things, expand beds and make changes.
“I get disappointed if I can’t move dirt at least once a year,” John Kociela says.
The Kocielas have a strict rule. If a plant does not do well in three years, it gets moved, given away or thrown out. Other than that, they follow the rules of great gardeners: Visit as many gardens as you can; get ideas.
“You can learn more in two days on a walk than in an entire year,” Carol Kociela says.
As former executive director of the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens, she is well-versed in choosing plants that work well in this area. She still tells people the Botanical Garden’s shrub garden is the “best place to go, to see what’s flowering in Western New York.”
The Kocielas love when people stop to ask about the front garden. It’s a wonderful way to meet new people, they say.
As for the garden, “I love the beauty of it. It gives you a great sense of peace, and working on it allows you to focus on the small and see the big,” Carol Kociela says.
Here is a closer look:
The front garden: The front bed is large and one of the newest. It was started the same way as the others: The Kocielas outline the area first using a hose or rope to see the size and shape. She is the master of the species. She chooses plants that will be right for the space but also likes to use unusual varieties not seen everywhere.
The beds are a mixture of plants and bushes, but the choice of trees that shade these gardens is equally important. A beech and crimson oak replaced a red oak that was destroyed in the October storm.
Some of the plants here include: azaleas, coreopsis, shrubs, ‘Anna Belle’ hydrangea, ‘Miss Kim’ lilac, peonies, dianthus, cannas, spirea, lamb’s ear, dead nettle and poppies. Perennial geraniums are here and in the back. This bed, like the others, is planted for constant bloom throughout the season.
Between the yards: When the Kocielas moved here, a line of shrubs separated their yard from the neighbor’s. This hedgerow limited drivers’ vision, so it was removed. The Kocielas planted and now maintain a very long, wide bed that runs the length of the driveways. Many of these plants were taken from other parts of the yard; it is full of day lilies, cultivated white milkweed, hostas, phlox and lavender.
The flowers, low enough to see over, transition in height to the back where there are taxus, helenium and yarrow. This stretch will soon be in full bloom and continue until fall when the turtlehead flowers begin their late-season show.
Their own private park: As visitors enter the backyard, they experience the full effect of this beautiful garden. It is divided into several areas, each one a different, stunning collection of shapes, colors and scents. In the back shady part of the yard, John Kociela keeps a fern garden, shaded with a cloth where the tree coverage had been displaced by the October storm.
Ferns are joined by trillium, May apple, bleeding hearts, hostas and witch hazel. There is a collection of miniature hostas and, around the side of the garage, a bed stuffed full of giant hostas. A row of amaryllis, their green stalks about 2 feet high, will be moved to the basement come fall to go dormant for a few months. Then, just in time for the holidays, it’s show time.
A collection of tree peonies, including candy stripe, are planted in a deep corner, and wisteria hangs over the fence. In bloom, “this area is a mass of white,” Carol Kociela says.
A row of hemlocks separates this yard from the next. A pond is stocked with goldfish that usually produce enough offspring to share with other pond-keepers. A small pond falls into the lower pond that is accented with water iris, marsh marigold, dock and watercress.
The Kocielas moved from their former home a red Japanese maple they had received as an anniversary present. It loves its new location and has well passed the three-year rule.
The way they water: The soil here is clay but drains well. The Kocielas spend a fair amount of time watering. To make this easier, they installed a garden hydrant. It looks like a tall well pump, but they attach a hose to it. The pipe is sunk below the frost line to prevent winter freezing. Because the Kocielas regularly move and recreate beds, drip or permanent watering systems are impractical.
Beds and borders: The Kocielas built the borders first, then the beds. All of the beds have beautiful curving shapes. They are designed according to timing of bloom, color, size and place.
There are zinnias started from seed, coreopsis, lilacs, peonies and striking allium. Forsythia and viburnum fill out the border. The Kocielas almost lost their viburnum, but they did not give up and nursed them back to health.
On the patio: On the patio, plenty of pots are found, along with a bed of brugmansia, off to the side. Kept in pots, these will bloom this summer and then join the amaryllis in the basement for winter. The patio is the Kocielas’ favorite spot to spend an evening. Here, they might snip lettuce grown in a pot to enjoy with a meal.
Another island by the patio is full of hydrangea, mallow, heuchera, perennial geraniums, roses, iris and primula from an aunt. She also has ‘Blue Moon’ hosta, which are slow growers, and ‘August Moon,’ which starts green and turns to yellow.
Pest patrol: Hosta-loving slugs are treated with diatomaceous earth. To keep the rabbits from snacking, the Kocielas have strategically placed pieces of chicken wire around tender treats. The wire blends in with the plants and serves as a nice camouflaged deterrent.
Yes, even great gardeners have to put up with pests.
Jackie Albarella can be reached at Jackie@greenuptv.com.
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