DIY Network

The Waldeck's: Their Plan, Costs and Products From "Garden Sense" episode DGAR-204

Meet Kevin and Jennifer Waldeck. Kevin is a realtor and owner of a car dealership and a construction company. Jennifer is an artist and interior designer. They live in an 1865 historic stone home.

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The Waldeck's landscaping had been neglected for years. They want a garden to match the historic nature of the house, an old-fashioned heirloom garden with some native plants.
The challenge for our DIY Garden Sense team is to avoid the typical cookie cutter look and give them something that's artistic and interesting. An heirloom-type garden would freshen up the house and offer lots of curb appeal. The team also needs something to cover the utility box, which is located on the front of the house!

Gardening Challenge

Before

After

Required Project Time
The Old Schoolhouse project took one day to complete.

Project Details

At the time the Waldeck's home was built, around 1865, the leading trend in the United States was old-style gardens. International Expositions in London and Paris along with Philadelphia's celebration of the Centennial, all in the mid-to-late 19th century-aroused a new interest in gardens of the past. Many people thought, at the time that gardens should be a refuge and an expression of a homeowner's personality. Those are two of the goals that we strived for as we planned this garden.

• The Waldecks considered having the two huge pine trees cut down in front of their home but decided against it. According to an arborist, the reason the stone home is in such good shape is because the trees shelter it from the elements. So we decided to design around the trees.
  
• Plants were chosen with "old-style gardens" in mind. Spirea, Cleome, Sweet William and Columbine are among the old-fashioned plants we added to the garden.
  
• We added soil to the existing beds to help with drainage.
  
• We kept many plants such as creeping phlox, iris and Rose of Sharon that already worked well in their garden. But the plants were moved to different areas to create space for new heirloom plants.
  
• New urns were planted with old-fashioned annuals and placed on the front porch to add curb appeal. When the Victorians created containers filled with flowers, they added two types of plants - those that were useful and beautiful. We chose useful plants such as herbs - bay laurel, salad burnet and sage-along with pretty plants like petunias.
  
• Even though petunias have been used in the garden for decades-we planted the new Supertunias. They take much less care than the old varieties.
  
• We installed a trellis to cover the utility box and on it planted an antique rose, which was first introduced in 1868.
  
• A fruit tree was pruned in the back.

Gardening by Zip Code If you're looking to start a gardening projectbut don't know your gardening zone—visit the National Gardening Associations's USDA Hardiness Zone Finder. Enter your Zip Code to identify the proper zone.

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