What began during the 1960s as a neighborhood welcome wagon has grown into a flourishing group of women and men passionate about home gardening.
The Serendipity Garden Club has since become a place for the young and the old, first-time gardeners and professionals, as well as an educational resource for horticulture and floral design.
“We have all age groups, from people who are having their first baby to people who are retired and enjoying their grandkids. Some of the founding members are actually still active in the group,” says club president Winnie Garabis.
Once a month, 10 months out of the year, the 25 members rotate meeting in each other’s homes. They socialize, eat and, most importantly, listen to a program from a club expert or an outside professional who is brought in to teach the group new tricks and ideas for their home gardens.
“We’ve had professors from Columbus State. We have people from local garden centers that are specialists in a particular area, and we have some pretty expert people in our club (who) do presentations,” Garabis says. “There actually have been instructors from the national level (in our club), so we’re just lucky to have that expertise to draw from.”
Every June, they replace their usual meeting with a Garden Hop to tour some of their fellow members’ gardens. During last June’s Garden Hop, club members fell in love with long-time member Nancy Heber’s miniature landscape (also sometimes called a “fairy garden”), so they decided to make it the club’s 2010 focus to learn more about such gardens.
Heber is glad to teach fellow gardeners about miniature gardens. For 12 years, she taught horticulture for national garden clubs in 28 different states after retiring in 1992. Previously, she worked at Greenview Elementary School as an instructional specialist.
According to Heber, miniature gardens are lower maintenance than the typical home garden.
“Miniature landscapes allow you to garden without major demands,” Heber says. This makes them perfect for gardeners with limited space or time.
To avoid common misconceptions, Heber says she prefers the phrase “miniature landscape.”
“We’re not putting fairies in our yards,” she says.
The first step in constructing a miniature landscape is to find a suitable container.
“There are a variety of ways to approach it,” Heber says. Anything like a “trough, planter, whiskey barrel, etc.” can be used.
When deciding what to put in the container, Heber recommends planting small ferns, various types of thyme, selaginella, hens and chicks or different types of sedum. For gardeners planning to leave the container out during the winter, dwarf wintergreens can be used, as well. But if not, it’s important to winterize the garden so it will be in optimal shape for the following year.
To incorporate some extra flair into a miniature landscape, decorative objects can be added, such as a miniature wheel barrel, deck chair, or other items intended for small landscapes. Serendipity member Beth Veldey makes fairy garden furniture, and will to teach the group at a spring session. The club also tentatively plans to visit A Proper Garden, 5840 Olentangy River Rd. in Delaware, where there are many options for miniature landscapes.
For those looking to start their own gardens, Garabis’ first advice is to join a garden club and start learning as much as possible. Heber agrees, and gives the example of one member who couldn’t tell the difference between weeds in her yard and Hostas when she first joined. Now, she is a master judge.
“You can come and learn a lot,” she says.
Emily Gibb is a contributing writer for Upper Arlington Magazine.
BONUS:
Heber has plenty more gardening tips for fellow UA residents and gardeners, such as:
For watering indoor plants:
* Don’t use tap water straight from the faucet. Allow it to come to room temperature and age for at least 24 hours. It’s best to let it sit for 36-48 hours.
* Keep the water in a container, such as a well-washed milk jug, so it’s ready when your plants are.
* Allowing water to sit at room temperature gets rid of chemicals and chlorine, which can kill your house plants.
Things to remember for spring:
*The yard clean-up process is important. Pick up any leaves and debris to get rid of any diseases or pathogens in the yard.
* Pruning is important. Know how to prune, when to prune and what to prune.
* Also, know when to plant. Do your research when thinking about what to plant so they will last.
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