Started from scratch, this garden grew from patience and teamwork

When Dolores and Denny Zimmerman bought their new house in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove 12 years ago, it came with two trees and a yard of rubble.

They were thrilled.

Hastily sown grass and piles of rocks from the retention-pond area behind their home distinguished the 75-by-300-foot property, and the gardening team of Dolores and Denny had found their dream come true.

“We had our own ideas and thoughts,” Dolores said. “We were glad there was nothing there. It gave us an open palette.”

Over the years they have planted 21 trees on the property, built raised-bed vegetable gardens and created a privacy fence with a homemade trellis and a variety of vines, including Betty Corning clematis that adorns a backyard arch with nodding violet bluebells that last into September.

The Zimmermans started their garden adventure in the front yard, then moved to the back along the deck, and continued to add to the landscape year after year, they said.

“We had a sense of what we wanted to do with the rock, but the rest has just evolved over time. It’s never ending, always evolving,” said Dolores.

They hauled the rock to the center of the backyard, where it now gives structure to a lush perennial island that divides the deep backyard, separating the front sitting area from the back, where vegetables and grapes for jelly are grown on the fence they share with a neighbor.

On one end of the island, near Dolores’ dahlias (her favorites), a child’s pedal surrey -- bought by Dolores’ mother in 1965 -- is parked and waiting for a driver. It still works.

Although Dolores loves all dahlias in all sizes, and appreciates the way they bloom into October, she prefers anemone dahlias, with their small cushion of petals in the center, and especially those that combine shades of pink, yellow and orange.

On the other side of the island, a bench for two faces the backyard and provides a shady spot for the Zimmermans to rest while they’re working in the vegetable garden.

They grow onions, potatoes, beets they pickle, carrots to freeze, peas, red peppers, squash and cucumbers.

“We actually do sit on that bench often because we get tired,” said Denny.

“What we do, we do together,” Dolores added. “He digs the big holes. I dig the small holes. He’s the landscaper. I’m the gardener who plants the flowers.”

Variety reigns in their garden; Denny prefers mixing colors and flowers. “I don’t like to do all of one kind,” he says.

Perennials like old-fashioned phlox and day lilies of many types grace the beds.

Grasses include little bluestem, Heavy Metal switchgrass and Miscanthus sinensis “Gracillimus,” which sports copper-colored plumes in late summer to contribute to a multicolored border along their east-facing back deck, where they like to have breakfast.

Both enjoy trying new plants. They go garden shopping with the idea that what jumps out at them will be what they bring home.

“It keeps the yard interesting from season to season,” Denny said. “When we go to a plant sale or a nursery, if we like it, we get it, find a spot and plant it. There’s no grand plan.”

They take a road trip every Memorial Day weekend to one of their favorite gardening retailers, West Olive Nursery, north of Holland, Michigan.

“Even with the cost of gas and pie (their favorite Michigan treat), it’s worth the trip,” Dolores said.

Many of the plants have a story, Dolores said. “I love that about (the garden), remembering the stories.”

As she strolls through their garden, she remembers aloud which plant was won at a retailer, which came from garden club events and, still others, were gifts from friends and neighbors.

Some were planted from seed, others arrived as cheap stragglers she thought would never live but have thrived under their care.

There’s the bald cypress -- now more than 25-feet tall -- that their daughter gave them as a housewarming present. And one of Denny’s favorites is the dawn redwood tree they bought at Menards when it was just a whip, thin and maybe 4 feet tall. Now it’s 15 feet tall.

In a narrow walkway along the north side of the house, the Zimmermans embellished the privacy fence with climbers.

A climbing hydrangea, known for being a slow grower, has now moved from the creeping to the leaping stage. There’s also a jasmine vine they keep in a large pot, then cut back and move indoors to overwinter.

According to the Zimmermans, treating plants right is the key to a thriving garden.

Just give them enough time and space to do their thing, Dolores advised; watching the plants as they grow can become a source of great pleasure.

“It’s therapy being in the garden, living right in that moment,” said Dolores. “I think it’s the evolution, seeing things change from nothing to something beautiful, that I love. In some ways it’s like watching your children grow.”

Each day also brings something new, she added.

“We find so many changes throughout all the seasons, with so much to see,” she said. “What’s blooming that wasn’t yesterday? What is struggling that needs a little attention? What have the rabbits eaten?”

Every evening after they come home from work, the Zimmermans stroll through the yard together, sharing the beauty -- and their vision of what is next.

Many times, Denny said, his wife will carry along a watering can to tend to a thirsty plant, or a small pair of clippers so she can do a little grooming. While a little of that is fine, Denny said that sometimes he has to ask his teammate, “Hey, are we walkin’ or workin’?’”

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Started from scratch, this garden grew from patience and teamwork ."