Rummaging In Dirt

by Linda Lange
Scripps Howard News Service

Tom Boyd loves to work a Bobcat. "I like digging in the soil with a machine." Seventeen years of rummaging in dirt changed a blackberry bramble into a gracefully terraced garden. A smooth-flowing stream now bisects a velvety lawn and fern groves and perennial beds adorn the hillsides.

"It was a mess," says wife Sandi Burdick. "It looked like a jungle," he verifies.

Once he cleared the thickets, Boyd dug a hole for a pond and built a sturdy embankment. Then he engineered a system of dams to manage the water flow and placed a spewing fountain in the middle.

Boyd's Bobcatting escapades changed another thicket into a horticultural showplace. Originally a bank beside the house was so steep that the only way to cut the grass was to use ropes to lower and raise a mower. "Tom built retaining walls and built up the soil," explains Burdick. "He got to use the Bobcat again," referring to his favorite toy, the small earth-moving machine.

Bathed in light, a profusion of perennials and aromatic, blousy shrubs blanket the slope. "I love shrubs. I use them as a backdrop, a way to ground the garden. The perennials peak in June so I have this big crescendo. It's just one mass of color," she says as we walk down an earthen track that is bordered by azaleas, astilbe, monarda and candytuft.

A great blue heron sculpture is surrounded by liatris. "It looks like he is standing in reeds. We do have real herons that come and fish in the pond," she says. To her dismay she sees a rabbit nibbling on a prized plant. "We have deer, rabbits, squirrels and raccoons."

The couple's 10-acre property in Knoxville, Tenn., backs up to 160 undeveloped acres. A scarecrow in a lavender dress and hat oversees the vegetable garden behind the house. A small herb garden is a few steps from her kitchen. Thousands of daffodils edge the woodlands, replete with pines, oaks, maples and sweet gum. Several small gardens and seating areas are scattered about the property, but all this pales in comparison to the waterfall garden Tom began building two years ago.

Driving a Bobcat wasn't enough. He brought in backhoes, bulldozers and dump trucks. "What we do is kind of insane, really," Burdick comments. "You've got to plan for five or six years before you build anything. You have to have it in your mind before you start," Boyd explains.

He positioned water pipes, pumps and electric wires before arranging boulders and laying stone, all the while considering the mature cedar, dogwood and redbud trees on the hillside.

Then Boyd placed a series of waterfalls and pools between fern grottos, hosta groves, walkways and seating areas. He was assisted by three neighbors: an electrician, a builder and a plumber.

The project involved 1,000 bags of mortar mix, 800 bags of concrete, 80,000 pounds of sand and at least 200,000 pounds of rock. "You can't imagine how much rock that is," he says wryly.

"Tom laid every stone," says Burdick, estimating that it took more than 2,400 hours. "That doesn't have anything to do with putting in dirt or planting." She worked her magic by planting hostas and ferns between water cascades. Clusters of purple verbena and yellow day lilies catch the morning sun.

"I love the textures and different colors of plants so I have tried really hard to incorporate that in this garden," she says.

An arrangement of foam flower, "palace purple" heuchera, lady ferns, turtleheads, Japanese iris and primroses are situated at the top level. Foxgloves, daylilies, Solomon's seal, and a stunning Japanese painted fern encircle a birdhouse in a lower section.

"What's nice about this garden is that it's shaded on one side and sunny on the other, so I am able to use plants that like sun and shade." The garden has 25 types of hostas and 15 types of ferns.

Waterfalls and plants are illuminated in the evenings. The couple frequently entertains guests here and on a patio adjoining the house. Last June they hosted a dinner party for 100 people, and this summer they will have a family reunion with 80 guests.

Boyd's grandchildren consider the waterfall garden a "wet 'n' wild" theme park. They play croquet and horseshoes in a glade beyond the house and enjoy their own Tom Sawyer adventures on a log raft in the pond. A cheerful melange of sculpture reveals the pleasure of the place and the couple's intent to celebrate life and being with the people they love. "I like whimsy in my garden. Just to get a smile on someone's face, it's just so worth it," says Burdick.

The Idaho native got a love for gardening from her mother and grandmother. "I guess I am a natural, a born lover of plants. It's a passion. I love to try new plants. If I see something new in a nursery, I have to try it."

Boyd, who is CEO of Fi-Shock, Inc., grew up farming in West Tennessee. "I wanted to be a farmer. I love to see things grow. I like digging in the soil. I'd say we spend 5 or 6 hours a day on average in the yard and all weekend," he says.