July 20, 2013
from the program: Laura Deemer is a passionate gardener who never has trouble finding time to work in her yard. As you enter through a gated archway you will be greeted by a cottage garden in small raised beds. Circling the property to explore the many planted areas and shady retreats you will find specimen trees, original metal garden art by husband Don, a quirky mix of mounted birdhouses and a gazebo perfectly suited for music in the garden. A pond built by Don and Laura is fed by a small recirculating stream.
The Deemer garden was discovered by tour organizer Nancy Allen when she was going down a tiny local road looking for an estate sale. She knew by peeking into the garden that something good was going on there, so she introduced herself and asked Laura if she would like to be on the tour. Nancy and I visited the garden again about a week later and were both impressed with Don and Laura’s garden artistry. Happily, Laura did agree to open her garden for tour day. (Again, because I did not photograph every last thing on tour day, I have included some photos I took of details on the two occasions that I visited the gardens before the tour.)
From the driveway, the main garden has two entries, one, below, leading to the front porch. The Deemers extensively remodeled their home and added decks over the years.
Entering through the gate above, you will see garden beds on your right.
Another gate leads you below the flower beds, and that is the one we entered through on tour day.
Now the flower beds are to our left, and on tour day, Laura had put out informative signage about her favourite plants.
My friends were especially smitten with the Deemers’ artisitic birdhouse posts. Laura told me she had made this one since my previous visit which had only been a couple of weeks earlier.
On my previous visit, Laura told me they had also made the leaf and round pillar birdbath.
They also built their pond and streamlet water feature.
Above, the shady southwest side of the garden used to be a vegetable patch until Laura decided to turn it into a woodland.
On the south side of the garden, where she has planted specimen trees and shrubs, she set up a table with before photos of the garden. I remember seeing this garden in its early days, over the fence, before it was surrounded with trees and shrubs…maybe 18 years ago as it is near Andersen’s RV Park, one of our longtime jobs.
People could walk all around the house via what is usually fenced off as a dog yard where two Australian Shepherds romp.
Laura told me she likes to create sheltered places to get out of the sun. Below is an outdoor room behind the house.
The wall was painted by Susan Wallace of the Painted Lady Lavender Farm, which would be our last stop on tour day.
Leaving that room, we go along a shady walk, still in the dog yard. Laura told us one of the two dogs has been quite a problem with digging, but she has still managed to grow hydrangeas, ferns and hostas.
Leaving the dog yard, we enter a large, square sunny garden room on the north side of the house….a secret garden that you might not even find it you did not look for it. Along the back fence (to the right in the photo below) is a low area that is used as a debris and compost pile. I am hoping our friend Sheila may have photographed that, as we both like to see the work areas of a garden! The main part of the garden here has another outdoor shelter, a gazebo large enough to have dinner in…or place a Music in the Gardens tour musician.
Between the two raised beds of ferns, to the left, a path leads to another gate out to the driveway. This garden is enclosed with a tall fence, and the construction of the pergola is absolutely solid.
An elegant garden of shrubs and ferns with a dry creek bed runs along the north fence of this garden area.
I don’t see many “outdoor rooms” that are this beautifully built with windows…a perfect shelter from the beach wind.
The skills of Don and Laura are evidenced in everything from the well built structures, to the paths and decks and paving, to the birdhouses and pond and Don’s playful metal sculptures.
Lovely house and garden shots. I also love that litle stream with the round and smooth pebbles in the base of the small pool areas.
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Me, too.
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Beautiful tour! I loved walking through the garden with you!
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[…] Next, we continued south and made a rest stop at Andersen’s RV Park where the poppy garden was much admired….then on down tiny little N Alley to Laura and Don Deemer’s garden. […]
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