garden two: Nybakke Garden
from the program: A few grand native fir trees, salal and wild huckleberries welcome you to this thriving garden, a tribute to its generous owners. Before the gale of 2007, this 1.3 acre plot was basically a natural forest garden. Destruction of nineteen old growth firs opened the canopy and the Nybakkes created new garden beds, terraces and stone steps where stumps were removed. A central vintage basketweave patio invites exploration of diverse paths around the house and lower gardens. Profusions of flowering plants abound, including lilacs, rockroses, cranberry bushes, peonies, daisies, daylilies, fuchsias, carnations, irises and chrysanthemums. Bird feeders and baths help make this a sanctuary for feathered friends. Striking foliage of Japanese maples, spirea, grasses, lady’s mantle, thyme, moss, rosemary and lavender enhance dazzling floral displays. Down pas the shed beside the rolling lawn, meander through another lovely garden with ferns, ajuga, new and recovering rhodies, firs and fruit trees.
We parked at the bottom of the road that leads up to the Astoria column and walked up this driveway.
The flower and shrub gardens wrapped all around the paths, lawn and patios.
At the end of the driveway, we came upon this path into the garden:
I wondered why there were paving rocks on top of other paving rocks.
From this path, one could either walk forward to the house or sideways into the garden.
Here is a lawn photo for Tom Hornbuckle. The lawn was surrounded by flower beds and lay to the south of the paver path.
At the west end of the lawn, people gathered on the basketweave patio.
The garden dropped in levels down the hill to the south.
At the foot of the mixed border that fell away from the house, I came to another lawn next to a garden shed.
Below the shed, a large lawn area rolled down hill next to another garden bed.
I could tell that the garden is being expanded here and look forward to seeing it again on a future tour.
We walked around the east side of the house by a small back door garden bed.
Note to self: I need to get a new Cotinus ‘Golden Spirit’ as I lost mine in the move from my old house. The author of one of my favourite blogs, The Miserable Gardener, calls that “transplantosis.” My plants suffer a lot from that disease.
Strangely, we did not walk around to the west side of the house. Nothing pulled me over there, and I might have missed another garden area.
It is odd indeed that we did not walk all around the house, but instead we turned back toward the patio. To the east, the lawn was cast in shade.
And off to the side of that path, a grass path led to the big southwest lawn.
This was an excellent and impressive garden and I enjoyed every aspect of it. I had to move house to get from a shade garden to a sunny garden; here, mother nature effected that change.
Comment on stones over stones on back walkway-I had started to make a stone walkway, eventually covered with “steppables”, before LCPS ask to have the garden on tour. The first layer of stones had too much movement, since the steppables had not fully attached. I became concerned about safety, and quick layered over the original stones with larger slabs, hoping movement through that pathway would be safer. Larger stones have since been removed, and I continue to add steppables. The weather was perfect. Thanks LCPS. John and Jan Nybakke
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A friend of mine who had had the same issues told me (from the photos) that she thought it was probably just that kind of walkability issue. That is always a worry during the tour! I know when I had my old garden, which was very up and down, on the tour, I fretted and fretted over the walkability, and eventually had people just go in one directions (in the lower gate and around the house and out the upper gate) for safely reasons. Easier to go up than down wonky steps. I absolutely loved your garden, thanks for opening it for the tour.
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