His and Her's or Her's and His Garden

The Vinson Garden

The garden begins with river rocks, lots of them. He wants you to appreciate the rocks encircling the parking strip plantings of grasses, ornamental bamboo, a Japanese maple and a dolmen from a Marysville quarry. "I wanted to do something with rocks," he said.

She thought their bland, small yard needed structure. So she took a landscape design course at South Seattle Community College and their lives and yard changed forever. She developed a vision and he tagged along. He built the fences and arbors. Then, "I'd buy a plant I liked and she'd decide where to put it…eventually I wanted my own garden space."

In the front yard on the left, barberry marks the fence corners interplanted with 'Cherry Cheeks' daylilies. To the right, the birch tree is under planted with redtwig dogwood and very slow growing ivy. What you see is five years old.

Bearing left, you pass a perennial bed under the window. A recurring issue has been identifying a plant that will thrive around the pavers throughout the property. Here, a yellow groundcover seems to be taking hold. With limited digging space, these gardeners use what they have. In the driveway, rhubarb is on trial beside the downspout and a white flowering Japanese ivy thrives.

Passing through the gates to the backyard, note the purple clematis to your left and the five-leaf Akebia vine on your right. Inside, his garden is full of container plantings, dahlias and sunflowers. Her garden is the rockery along the back fence planted with succulents and Nandina. Their joint efforts have transformed the back yard into "a surprising retreat."

A crabapple tree, chokeberry and more dahlias prosper in the sunny corner by the garage. Five varieties of hosta, a toad lily patch and hydrangea flourish by the neighbor's garage to the south. New Zealand fern groundcover fights to fill in around the pavers.

The sunniest spot is off the kitchen door on the south side of the house. He plants and maintains the herbs, cherry tomatoes and hot peppers that she selects. Working together, this gardening couple have found the structure and solace that redefines their boundaries.

NOTE: This garden is wheelchair accessible on the south side only.