Pittsburgh Garden Stories

2009-03-28T12:46:00.001-07:00

Hello Garden Friends,

Unfortunately, we will not be hosting a Garden Swap this year (2009). We are taking a year off to accommodate growing families, busy lives, etc. We will be back in 2010 and hope to see you then. In the meantime, we hope you have a wonderful growing season. And please let us know if you host a garden swap of your own. We will be happy to announce it on this website.

Best Regards,
Pittsburgh Garden Swap Planning Committee

Scents for cents is the theme of my Garden

2008-04-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

Eight years ago I purchased a mid-century, corner house in the heart of Mt. Washington. The house had yews all around, instead of flowers, so they were the first to go. Each year I added, little by little, with my main focus on the wonderful aroma of spring and summer, and what a treat this has turned out to be.

I added a small arbor/patio on the side of the house and have surrounded it with as many aromatic additions as I was drawn to. I have chocolate mint crawling between stepping stones; a butterfly bush that decided to leave me last year, but left some babies I have transplanted to the front gate area…don’t know how that will end up.

It’s now becoming my focus to create vignettes around the yard, and I may even disregard the lawn and just plant whatever suits my fancy as dry spots arise.

Please be my guest to visit the small but exciting creations I am sharing here. I look forward to the next Garden Swap to experience the offerings all the wonderful gardeners will bring this year; I am certain something beautiful will be there for me too!

Happy Spring, 2008!!!!!
-Grace
Mt. Washington

Our New Garden

2008-04-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

When we bought our house in the Spring of 2005, it was a wreck that needed extensive renovation. The yard was small, but, with a nice combination of sun and shade, it had potential.

When we moved in a year later, the interior was barely completed and the back yard was still nothing more than a weedy storage area for construction debris. It was clear that I wouldn't be working on a garden yet.

I volunteered at the Garden Swap that year, but I had nothing to contribute. Nonetheless, I walked away with my arms full of plants that generous and understanding gardeners encouraged me to take. I went home, cleared a small patch in the yard, and planted my green treasures. They looked a bit ridiculous, small, slightly scraggly stalks standing amid chunks of wood, plaster and assorted building materials, but they were determined and so was I.

Fast forward another year, to the spring of 2007: the interior of the house was still not complete, but it was definitely presentable. It was finally time to look outward -- with our son's high school graduation party looming, I needed to transform the backyard from a junkyard into a garden.

The catch? With our schedules full, we really only had one weekend in which to do it.

Aided by our teen-aged children (Vince and Maddie) and some of their friends, my husband, Curt, and I lifted and toted until the yard was cleared of trash. There was the yard, empty at last. But, what next?

I regret to say that I had not spent hours sketching the layout, dreaming of the beautiful plants that would someday grace our yard. So, I took a deep breath, looked around and started with the materials at hand. We took down the clothesline poles made out of 4x4s and created a flowerbed against the back fence. With the Belgian blocks that I had forced my son's friends to spend hours moving from our old house, we created the outline of a path, a seating area, and more flower beds.

Curt and Vince hacked at the ground to loosen the packed dirt and remove the roots of long-dead bushes. The only access to our backyard is on foot, so they lugged dozens of bags of soil a really long distance from our car, which was parked in the street. They raked and smoothed and leveled until the ground was ready to plant. While I carefully transplanted the perennials given to me the previous year, they made numerous trips to the local Home Depot for mulch and grass seed. By the end of the weekend, there were flowerbeds, a few garden statues, two seating areas, a potential grassy area, and a smattering of confused fledgling perennials.

To my eyes, it was amazing.

Two weeks later, I once again returned to the Garden Swap as an empty-handed volunteer. And, once again, fellow gardeners took pity on me and sent me home with a car filled with plants. It was an amazing variety of plants and colors. I wasn't even sure what I had, but I crossed my fingers and planted 'em anyway.

By the time the graduation party was held at the end of June, the junkyard had been transformed. It isn't the lush mature garden with a pond and secluded bench that is my dream, but it was a huge improvement and the beginning of a real perennial garden. It will take a while for the plants to expand and fill the space, but -- thanks to the Garden Swap -- it's an incredible beginning and I can't wait to see what comes up this year.

-Stacie
Highland Park

My Rock Garden

2008-01-14T03:38:00.000-08:00

I have always loved the idea of having a rock garden. Fortunately, my small urban property was ALL FULL SUN.

When I decided to dig up the grass and put in a garden, I listened to Martha Stewart who said "it takes 14 years to establish a garden." This is what gave me the inspiration and the patience to develop my plans; and year after year, re-develop them, including all the imaginative things I want to include in my rock garden.

The "natural look" is what I strive for, including lots of rocks, stones, pottery, mulches, and ground covers.

-Cheryl
Observatory Hill

The Right Plant for the Space

2008-01-14T03:36:00.000-08:00

I have lost many new plants. So, I just keep trying plants until I find the right plant for the space. I enjoy the butterflies and bees as much as the flowers!

-Dee
Observatory Hill

Broccoli for my girls

2008-01-14T03:33:00.000-08:00

In my small backyard, my children and I love to plant a garden. This year, we planted lots of broccoli plants and some tomato plants. My girls love broccoli, so we wanted to show them how it is grown. They also have a small flower bed they love to dig in.

-Marie, Kayla and Rachel
Brookline

Patience is a virtue!

2008-01-14T03:26:00.000-08:00

In 2003, I planted phlox, iris, jack-in-the-pulpit and many other plants. Can you imagine Spring 2007-- they finally bloomed! Patience is a virtue!

-Anita
Squirrel Hill

Filling in the Pool

2007-05-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

When we bought our house, we inherited a large, above-ground swimming pool. We did not need the pool and did not want to maintain a pool, so we had it dismantled. When the pool was removed, we were left with a very large "circle" of clay and sand. We used to joke that it looked like an alien landing pad, as if a space ship had landed in our backyard, burning up the earth below. We knew we would have to do alot of work to cultivate the garden that we had envisioned.

The first year after we had the pool removed, the soil quality was so poor and the only thing that would grow were sunflowers and native grasses. Every time it rained, a huge pool of water would collect in the circle due to the fact that the soil contained so much clay.

We realized that we would have to build raised beds and haul in alot of rich soil/peat moss/ mulch/etc. And that is exactly what we did-- the second year.

We dug out quite a bit of clay (in the flower beds) and then filled it in with soil. We designed the flower beds to complement the circular shape left behind by the pool. We planted grass around the raised beds. My husband created a vegetable garden, which sits adjacent to the circle garden. This photo shows the final layout (minus all the flowers and shrubs that now fill the garden).

And since we were digging out the clay, we decided to dig a little more and put in a fish pond-- during the third year. We used a "natural filtration system," which relies upon the double-tier pond you see in the photo. Water from the big/bottom pond gets pumped up to the small/upper pond, which is filled with lava rocks. The water is cleaned by the lava rocks right before it flows back into the large pond.

During the fourth, fifth and sixth year, we slowly added flowers, shrubs and even a small dogwood tree that I got from the Pittsburgh Garden Swap.

Now, in our seventh year, the circle and vegetable gardens are amazing. We have planted many plants and shrubs that attract butterflies and birds, including bee balm and a large butterfly bush. I am lazy-waterer, so I've planted a lot of things that don't require regular watering. We have also added a bird bath, a bird feeder and a birdhouse, which was taken over by a very loud bird, which my family nicknamed "Bossy Bird." And our beloved fish have gone on to the big pond in the sky, SO, we filled the pond in with canna, grasses and elephant ears.

Over the years, the soil has settled in the raised beds, and I have been thinking that I should probably dig out some portions of the flower beds and fill them in with more soil...but, I'll have to see how much energy I have this spring.

-Renae, Pittsburgh