Gardens
An Experimental Journey
This Kansas City, Mo., garden defies following recommended design guidelines — it simply (and beautifully) blossoms with the whims of a homeowner’s favorite pieces.

“It’s just our place to
sit and get away.”

 

After living in a modern ranch house, tirelessly trying to spruce it up with architectural details, David and Judy Aull gave up on it and moved into a more historical home — a Normandy farmhouse filled with charm and history. At that time, in 1998, neither Judy nor David was interested in gardening.

The previous owners had bestowed them with an English garden in the backyard, surrounded on all sides by huge pine trees, some flower beds and a few overgrown plants. Also remaining were a gazebo sheltering an 18th-century English stone fountain, 19th-century French wrought iron fencing, 19th-century English wall fountain and antique well, and brick pathways and patio, uneven in some spots. The history was there, but Judy didn’t fully understand what she had or what it could be until she toured the herb garden at the John Wornall House Museum with a friend. Inspired, she immediately began to grow a green thumb.

In 2007, Judy graduated from the Master Gardeners program and is now on the board of the Garden Center Association (GCA) of Greater Kansas City. Still, though, her garden isn’t like others. She calls it a “naturalistic and experimental garden” — basically she plants what she likes. “This is not a destination,” Judy says of her time spent in the garden. “Gardening is a journey,” meaning it’s a never-ending job, which is what she loves about it. Although she had planned on using low-maintenance plants, the garden needed more than just greenery to revive it. 

Judy started with the obvious updates: replacing some of the antique bricks and smoothing out the walkways and patios; rebuilding the gazebo and garnishing it with more ivy; and shoring up the base of the fountain under the gazebo. As the Aulls added on to the back of their home, they expanded their entertainment area by designing another outdoor living space with seating separated by a gate from the walkout patio with fire pit. They also added a sprinkler system and a swimming pool that’s 4 feet deep on each end with a middle depth of 5 feet — it’s the hot spot in the summer for the grandkids.

Only after all that did Judy begin planting. Staying with low-maintenance shade plants, Judy chose hostas; ferns; hydrangeas like ‘Limelight,’ ‘Lady in Red’ and ‘Annabelle;’ azaleas; Creeping Jacob’s Ladder; Solomon’s Seal; astilbe; Virginia sweetspire; lungworts; ‘Grand Marshall’ bee balm; elephant ears; Harry Lauder’s walking stick; butterfly bushes; mountain laurel; dogwoods; ‘Whipcord’ red cedar; and, Judy’s favorite, the drooping leucothoe, which she calls the “spunky arching plant” that keeps its leather texture and green color year-round.

Each year Judy goes to a greenhouse and picks out greenery that piques her interest, trying to incorporate new plants that fit the Country French theme of her home, while also taking time to rearrange existing plants. This year she hopes to develop her Japanese garden more. David, on the other hand, spends most of his spare time working on his golf game but is always willing to help when digging is on the agenda. “He doesn’t do much gardening but is my most avid supporter,” Judy says.

During the spring season, Judy’s rakes the gravel walkway around the garden’s perimeter every other day, weeds several times a week (which can take a few hours), and trims when necessary. She gets additional help from her grandson, Nick Hamlin, who enjoys gardening on his days off and has helped Judy for many years. He’s also the one responsible for the 10-year-old blue chair with Bart Simpson’s face painted on it sitting alongside the pathway at the far end of the garden. He continues to beg grandma to remove it, but it’s a sentimental piece that Judy intends to keep in her garden.

As with many master gardeners, Judy enjoys all seasons in the peaceful setting she’s cultivated. “In the spring, I get a cup of coffee and Rex [the dog], and we take a walk every morning to see the new life,” she says. “In the summer, you get to see your work in bloom, and during the winter, there’s not much work,” which offers time to plan for the next season.

In the back corner of the garden Judy and David often relax on a teak bench on summer evenings with a glass of wine, taking time out to view her work in progress. “It’s just our place to sit and get away,” she says.