The Recipe for a Happy Garden

Bonnie Kelley mixes a pinch of proper research with lots of hard work

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It took 10 years of convincing, but once Bonnie Kelley showed her husband Jay that the pleasure of having a garden can far outweigh a generic green lawn, he became a believer. “He’s in it hook, line and sinker,” she says with a laugh. “He’s all in.”

When the two built their Rehoboth home 15 years ago, the expansive land afforded a pristine lawn; still, Bonnie yearned for a place she could test out her green thumb and plant lesser known plants and flowers. After Jay gave in, he was eager to turn out the property and do the heavy lifting. A gardener’s work is never done, Bonnie insists. “And we love it that way,” she concedes.

“With perennials, as much as they say they come back, they’re work. I split a lot.” Bonnie has developed an on-site nursery of her own, which comes in particularly handy when the garden has a hole that needs to be filled with blooms or to make younger plants stronger and healthier before they literally lay down roots. A flower, plant or shrub in Bonnie’s garden, however, may not always take up permanent residence. Moving plants around is de rigueur there as the best positioning, she says, can take a fair amount of tweaking.

An admitted voracious reader, Bonnie educated herself on the ins and outs of gardening, investigating plants she’s never heard of and learning how to care for them on the internet. She also picked up gardening books at local tag sales in addition to another guilty pleasure: “I hate to admit it, but I actually read garden magazines when I have a minute here and there.” The benefit of research, she explains, is that there might be a tip that a gardener may not even know to ask.
Maintaining the garden takes about an hour to an hour-and-a-half per day. “I putter around, cut and pinch; little jobs,” she says. “You’re never done. I truly mean that.” Little by little, she’s usurped patches of grass, turning them into creative gardens, most of which are shaded.

Ligularia, a large leaf perennial with sprays and spires, and Toad lilies, a fall bloom that offers soft cream and purple shades, are just some of her favorites. Look beyond big box store garden centers, she advises, and plant in odd numbers. “If I had known that in the beginning, it probably would have saved me a lot of time,” she says. Stick to what the plant instructions say. “Do things by eye,” she advises. “You’re the one that’s going to spend the most time there; you have to make you happy. I like things to be a little less orderly. It would drive me crazy trying to be perfect.”

gardens, gardening, rehoboth, east bay, the bay magazine

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