BY GINNY GEIGER AND BARBARA ANDERSON
Garden Club of the Lakes
When Clark Culbreth was transferred from Jacksonville to Gainesville in 2002, he and Connie decided they had spent enough time in large cities. Clark, in particular, was tired of living without trees. He wanted trees, so they decided to move to a small town with trees.
And trees he got at 480 SW Magnolia Ave – beautiful oaks. They were small 22 years ago, but Clark made sure he nurtured them into beautiful huge trees.
Their yard was part of the property next door, which was split into two lots on Little Keystone Lake. Deirdre Murphy bought the one with the historic house, and the Culbreths bought the other lot with a new home. There was nothing there except trees, dirt, and the house. Their yard shows what lots of time and hard work can look like many years later. Be encouraged!
What do you think of when you hear about a beautiful yard with massive trees? Sitting in that lovely setting. The Culbreths have some beautiful resting spots where they enjoy the beauty of their yard.
Connie is the one who gets most of the credit for the beauty. Clark was quick to say that Connie was the plant lover and did almost all of the work in the yard. And a lovely job she does.
The way she chooses to display a few of her plants is unique. Bromeliads hanging from pots along their fence and aloe in a strawberry pot caught our eyes. As soon as Ginny got home, she found her old discarded strawberry pot and is going to put her small aloe plants in it. (We learn so much and have so much fun doing Yard of The Month! Oh, I think we have told you that already!).
When we asked Connie about her plants and how she knew what to get and where to plant them, her answer was perfect: “When I see a plant I really like, I just buy it and plant it somewhere and pray it lives.” That’s right down our alley!
All around their yard, Connie planted several different plants. There is some special type of mum around the base of a huge tree that seems to be doing quite well. Then she arranged Hosta, Jasmine, hydrangeas, and regular mums wherever she wanted to plant them. Amazingly, they appear to be doing quite well where she put them. She also has large peace lilies growing on their porch. It seems that the old saying of “Bloom where you’re planted” has worked for her.
Connie attempted Tricolor Stromanthe, which has grown very tall but has not done as well as the other plants. She does not know how to fix them. Do you have any ideas?
That is not all this couple added to their yard. Since there is a canal as part of their property, a deck and stairs to the canal seemed to be in order. Their deck is surrounded by beautiful trees and plants, providing a lovely place to sit and grill their favorite foods. Even though you can’t see the lovely backyard, you must take our word for it. Now, they are waiting for Keystone to continue to get our water supply back so that their canal will begin to flow again.
Connie would love for the yard to take care of itself, but since that is impossible, she works in it all day, every other day. She rests in between. Clark would love for the enormous trees not to have roots to mow over, but that’s not possible either. They are a perfect pair of yard “caregivers”, taking care of their own parts of the yard.
If you want to learn more about the Garden Club of The Lakes or nominate yourself or anyone in the community for Yard of The Month, please call Pat Lorenzo at 904-728-9460.
