GARDENER'S NOTEBOOK
Working Earth Organic Gardening and Landscape
By Jani Gardner
When Jude Villa explains that her Working Earth Organic Gardening and Landscaping firm offers design concepts from raw construction sites to overgrown landscapes, she means it. Note her dramatic transformation of a basic, drab backyard grass area, with stepping stones being overtaken by the grass, connecting to a drab cement slab, leading to an outside shower. No flowers were present, no notions of joy, just a drab yard, lolling aimlessly behind a classic waterfront Vineyard Haven home that was undergoing construction, painting and renovations. Getting to the back area was a major gymnastic feat, hauling a wheelbarrow full of various materials, including large irregular bluestones, up a steep hill, then around a narrow path to the the back of the house, to create a beautiful curved patio and garden bed. The cement slab was removed and replaced with large stepping stones surrounded with thyme. Pruning and incorporating her client’s favorite apple tree, which leaned like a canopy to catch the sun, Jude created a magical garden.
Below that euphoric tree, she arranged a partial sun and shade garden of vibrant annuals and perennials: ageratum, verbena, heuchera, Blue Fortune agastache, astilbe, coleus, hosta, chocolate eupatorium, and blue delphinium. Add to that a full-sun container garden: tomatoes, cukes, rosemary, sage, thyme, the full regalia. “The land is really important to me, not only the customers. In the last 10 years, I’ve become more connected to the land, to honoring it, preparing it in a natural way, respecting the property and its surroundings. I can feel when it’s balanced, or if clearing needs to be done,” tells Jude, who recently found great joy in participating in a tree whispering course.
Below that euphoric tree, she arranged a partial sun and shade garden of vibrant annuals and perennials: ageratum, verbena, heuchera, Blue Fortune agastache, astilbe, coleus, hosta, chocolate eupatorium, and blue delphinium. Add to that a full-sun container garden: tomatoes, cukes, rosemary, sage, thyme, the full regalia. “The land is really important to me, not only the customers. In the last 10 years, I’ve become more connected to the land, to honoring it, preparing it in a natural way, respecting the property and its surroundings. I can feel when it’s balanced, or if clearing needs to be done,” tells Jude, who recently found great joy in participating in a tree whispering course.