Muskogee Garden Tour this Weekend

Each of the five gardens you will see on Saturday’s garden tour is distinctly different from the others. The homeowners have expressed their artistic and design talents in their front, side and back yards.
Muskogee Garden Club 2011 Garden Tour Saturday from 10 to 5
Tickets $5.00 available at all 5 homes on the tour

The Richardsons, 215 South 13th ST
The Whitakers, 415 North 16th ST
The Murphys, 4100 South Robb AV
Jimmy Ginn, 801 North 45th ST
The Tidmores, 4711 Howard ST

The home of Jimmy Ginn is a showcase for his landscape and design company, Grounds Keeper of Oklahoma (www.groundskeeperofOklahoma.com). Ginn’s main office is in Tulsa but his work takes him all over the state. His design ideas made the best use of his house lot.

The driveway retaining wall has a green strip on top that is accented with perennial Zebra Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus') and Maiden Grass (Miscanthus sinensis).




Shortly after buying the house six years ago, Ginn designed a unique stamped concrete sidewalk that goes from 45th Street to the front door. He said he wanted brick insets in the design to pick up the brick of the house and the tile pieces to make it modern. A friend who did the concrete work added rustic wood pieces to the sides. The walk is lined with Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon).

The front yard flower beds are made of dry stacked native rock and artfully curve around mature trees. The plants in the front beds include Double KnockOut Roses, Spirea, Laurel, Sweet Potato vines, Dragon Wing Begonias, Nandina and Maiden Grass. A pink tropical Mandevilla climbs up the lamp post and Asparagus ferns hang along the front porch.

In the back of the house, Ginn’s design talents really show. He has managed to make a fairly small back yard into a fully equipped outdoor entertaining area.

When visitors walk through the gate they will first see a newly installed fountain and koi pond on the left.

“Since there was limited space, I put it in the corner and had it flow out from there,” Ginn said. “It took four men four hours to dig out the hole. Then we lined it with rubber and started building up the stacked rocks to form the edges. The skimmer is at one end and the fountain is at the other end.”

The water circulates through a 2-inch hose under the rocks. The lily pads and a dozen koi were added afterwards.

In the flower beds around the pond are Cat-tails (Typha), assorted Hostas, Monkey Grass and a Blue Atlas Cedar.

Directly ahead and through the arbor is Ginn’s outdoor kitchen and entertaining area. Its features include a smoker, charcoal grill, gas grill, and a fireplace for cool weather entertaining. A gaslight on top of the fireplace adds warm light in the evening.

“My grandparents were farmers in Haskell,” Ginn said. “In the summer we always spent the evenings outside under the shade trees. I have good memories of those times and I wanted a kitchen out back so I could cook out here.”

The dining table, chairs and benches sit on a bricked patio. Wrapping around the entertainment area is a brick sidewalk lined with flower beds. Those beds contain impatiens, Hostas, a Japanese maple tree, and New Guinea impatiens.

The other water feature in the back garden is a tall vase that has water gently flowing over the edges. Ginn said that the water recirculates in a base that is buried in the ground.

Be sure to make this one of your stops on the tour.

Comments

james White said…
what a nice water feature, we had a similar one but had to get rid of it because the dogs kept on playing in it then getting the house all wet. also watch out for herons going for your fish.
Molly said…
I shouldn't but it made me laugh because Jimmy has a fairly large dog.
That photo was taken the day the pond was completed - still cloudy.
The outdoor kitchen is stunning and I'm soooo jealous.

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