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From languishing to lovely, see 9 amazing Madison-area garden transformations
Pat Greathead's garden "before"
"One of the first gardens to be planted when we moved to our home 23 years ago was a 22-square-foot herb garden.
"Stepping and edging stones were found from farmers’ fields, and in a short time the garden took shape. There were many herbs, including mints, chives and bee balm, which over the years had spread quite literally over the entire site. These volunteers, along with weeds and other unwanted plants, made walking the path if not impossible, very dangerous.
"But there were also good harvests thanks to the abundance that Nature had provided. Chive flowers for chive vinegar, apple mint to dry for tea and potpourri, catnip and lovage were harvested in bundles.
"Spring of last year provided the time, due to the pandemic, and impetus (a planned-in-2019 garden tour by two of the local federated garden clubs) to perform an extensive redo. Much of the plant matter was removed, paths lifted, compost incorporated, a two-tier raised section built in the garden’s center, and new plants put in that had been overwhelmed with the exuberance of the volunteers. The entry was also moved from the southwest corner to the middle of that side to make entry safer and easier."
— Pat Greathead, East Bristol
Pat Greathead's herb garden "after"
Eileen and Eric Nemec's garden "before"
"Last year, July 2020, we had to have a large dead oak tree removed from the corner of our yard. The corner where it was removed looked violated and desolate -- so, we created something to fill the spot so that it was attractive to neighbors and to us from our screened-in porch."
— Eileen and Eric Nemec
Eileen and Eric Nemec's bicycle garden "after"
Scott Kramer's garden "before"
"At the start of the pandemic, my wife Lily and I embarked on transforming a patch of green grass into a prairie garden.
"We used a kick sod cutter to cut out the turf grass. We planted a native prairie mix from Prairie Moon Nursery in the spring of 2020. Establishing native plants takes time. Some plants needed to experience a winter before they would begin to grow.
"In the summer of 2021, we have begun to see the fruits of our labor. Native plants are beginning to establish and some have even began to bloom. In the coming years, we hope to see the prairie garden become more diverse."
— Scott Kramer
Scott Kramer's garden "after"
Alicia Szekeres' garden "before"
"We started landscaping our new home in the spring of 2018. Although a retaining wall was recommended, we opted to slope the back of our property and plant a native prairie.
"The heavy rain event of August 2018 prompted us to create a rain garden, also filled with native plants. This past year we spent a lot of extra time adding plants, removing invasive species and enjoying the bees, butterflies and birds. We start all of our plants from seed and do all of the work ourselves."
— Alicia Szekeres
Alicia Szekeres' garden "after"
Eileen and Dan Wilson's garden "before"
"For several years we planted vegetables in a few raised beds in our backyard. They were fine, but the space was not big enough and the rabbit fencing made them look rather disheveled.
"Last fall we decided to upgrade. At the end of the season, we took out the raised beds and instead created a 12-foot-by-12-foot fenced garden area. We designed it ourselves, loosely based on a style shown in a YouTube video we watched. First we set the poles in the ground, then built fencing sections to put between each post. We built it with the strongest possible rabbit-proofing because we have a lot of hungry rabbits in our neighborhood. The hardware cloth mesh fencing extends about a foot into the ground below each panel so nothing should get under it. We even put some under the stones below the gate!
"It’s a relatively small garden, so to use the space effectively, we built a V-shaped trellis for the cucumbers to climb. After all expenses, from screws, wood and post caps to the sand/rock mixture for setting the posts, the garden cost us about $600 plus a good amount of sweat equity. It would probably be more this year with lumber increases. We realize that we could buy a lot of fresh produce from the farmer's market for that expense, but for us it's about more than the food. We eat fresh veggies, preserve some of the produce, and just generally enjoy the entire process of planting, tending and harvesting."
— Eileen and Dan Wilson
Eileen and Dan Wilson's garden "after"
Sara Redford's garden "before"
"Last July, my family and I moved to a new home on Kendall Avenue in Madison. When we moved in there were two canopy trees in the front and a small patch of half-dead grass in the front yard.
"About a month in, the city informed us that both trees had to be removed and we were left with ground-down stumps that could not be replanted with new trees. The grass and basic Hosta in front started burning under the new, direct sunlight and looked pretty rough.
"In less than a year, we’ve replaced the grass with a perennial bed and the terrace space is now a raised bed garden and perennial/annual flower garden. Everything is still getting established, but for doing it all ourselves by hand, I’m pretty proud of it."
— Sara Redford
Sara Redford's garden "after"
Pam Holmes garden "before"
Pam Holmes knows you can give a small space big impact with the right plantings and accents. She turned the flowerbed at her Southwest Madison condo — that started in spring with a single lonely Hosta — into a display brimming with summer blossoms and a bright sense of welcome.
Pam Holmes' garden "after"
Diane Small with green tomoato
Diane Small holds a small green tomato that is a thing of beauty, just ready for slicing, dipping in batter and frying up for a delectable lunch.
But rather than eating that tomato from her own backyard garden herself, she plans to give it away — and is happy to offer the recipe, too.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Small has turned her large, sunny backyard in the Waunona neighborhood into a community garden, where she and a legion of volunteers, many of them students from UW-Madison, till, plant, weed and harvest food for neighbors and nearby food pantries.
"I've already given away 40 bags of collards this year," said Small, who named her 40-by-40 foot space “Mamie’s Backyard Garden," in honor of her late mother, Mamie.
The two used to garden together in the yard after moving to Madison from South Carolina, where Small's youth was filled with backyard chores and home-cooked dinners fresh from the garden. But over the years, Small had moved on to other things, and the garden went quiet.
In 2020, friend and fellow gardener Jill Lundberg worked along with Small to secure a SEED Grant from the city of Madison, which provided $1,500 to cover a large part of the yard with organic soil and to plant collards, tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, squash and more for the neighborhood community. This year's projects have included increasing the number of plants and adding fencing to ward off ravenous neighborhood rabbits.
"Everything in this garden is free," said Small, who gives credit to the many volunteers and donors who have helped her, and who are acknowledged on her garden website, mamiesbackyardgarden.org. Small's church community from the S.S. Morris Community African Methodist Episcopal Church -- also beloved by her mother -- has been a huge support, too, she said.
"We've been praying over this food and talking over this food," said Small. "It's a lot of work, but it's going to feed a lot of people."
Diane Small's garden "before"
Diane Small stands in her backyard before it was transformed into a vegetable garden to help feed the community.
Diane Small's garden "after"
Victoria Johnson's "before" garden
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Victoria Johnson tired of seeing this pool equipment box in her backyard — so she covered it with a thriving flower garden.
Victoria Johnson's garden "after"
