July 2017 Yard of the Month

July Garden of the Month – Growing into it together

The Gettysburg Garden Club, through its Garden of the Month Committee, is pleased to award July’s Garden of the Month   to Troy and Sharon Martin of 1352 Hunterstown Rd, Gettysburg.

The Martins started gardening their home in 1992 when they received 2 acres of family farmland. They started as most first time home owners with the 2 foot deep flowerbeds right along the front of the house. From there Troy cleared out several trees to create a yard. Then slowly as time and fund progressed a sunroom, garage, patio and pool were built. Each one having its own garden until they all morphed into one well planned landscape.

Troy and Sharon  invite you to drive up their rock wall lined driveway, so that you can view all the beauty that they have to offer. There drive can be found by the wooden sign sporting  “The Martins” in a triangular bed of perennials.  As you drive on the left you will see the rock wall, created from the rocks from the woods, bordering some Hostas, Daylilies, Lambs ear, Cotoneaster, and Mums. Troy plans on building a fence as a back border to this bed reusing the wood from the fence that used to contain their vegetable garden.  Beyond the shade bed, Troy has created trellises for the roses and clematis which this year are Troy’s favorite due to the hard work he put into making the trellises.  As you near the home you will see a weeping cherry tree that stands tall against the perennial bed that is over abundant with many different kinds of plants. Foxglove, Dianthus, Sedum, Asiatic lilies, Hostas, Petunias, Coreopsis, Salvia, Astilbe, Coral bells, Liatris, Coneflower, Bearded tongue, Wigelia, Spider wort, Monkey grass, Columbine, Yarrow, Snowdrops, Bellflower, Delphinium, Gompherena, Shasta daisy, Black eye susan, Gaillardia all adorn the front of the home. Sharon enjoys lots of color because it “adds beauty to the house.” The Martins love attracting birds and the first thing Troy does when he arrives home from work is fill the feeders. They have planted  Hawthorns and Brandywine for their berries. They came up with a lot of their flower ideas from reading magazines such as Birds and Blooms. They also have their large variety of plants due to transplanting from friends and family when it is time to split the plants. They also purchased over 30 perennials at an auction their church held.

Sharon’s favorite plant is her Bee Balm which is back in the pool area. She has been searching for a Bee Balm with a white flower but hasn’t found one yet. Although when she does, it will have a place around the pool mixed in with the Red hot poker, Gaillardia, Strawflower, Delphinium, Spirea and Snowbells.

A joint effort, Troy and Sharon have grown into gardening together. They have gained knowledge from talking to local nurseries and believe “each flower has it’s own character”. Be mindful, if you plant something in full sun and it starts to wilt, don’t be afraid of moving it to the shade. Make sure that your house suits the needs of the plant. “Don’t go by vision, just because it looks good in the greenhouse doesn’t mean it will look good in your yard.  Make sure you read what the plant needs to thrive.”