Garden-a-Day

Sharing Lowcountry gardening secrets

To see a flower blooming year 'round is one of the goals of Master Gardener Carolyn Nettles and her husband, Bill, who holds a degree in agronomy (soil science) from Clemson University. Their Spanish Point garden is one of five featured on Beaufort Garden Club's award-winning Garden-a-Day.

Each morning during National Garden Week, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, a different garden will be open to the public. Master Gardeners will be available to help participants unearth the secrets to the successes of each garden.

This is the fourth yard the Nettles have planted together during their 47 years of marriage.

The roots in the Nettles' garden connect them to family and friends as well as special times of their lives. Shasta daisies, which were in Carolyn's wedding bouquet, have been a part of each of their gardens. Irises, given to Carolyn by her aunt who lives in North Carolina, thrive in Beaufort. A honeysuckle plant, from friends in Eatonton, Ga., offers a winsome aroma from times past.

Bill brings his love of hunting and fishing to the garden in various forms such as a red buck eye tree he found in the woods. His decoy turkeys peak out from behind the large elephant ears.

While Bill grew up in Sumter, he and Carolyn have perfected their gardening techniques for years in Pennsylvania, Charlotte and now for the past six years in Beaufort.

"We do it because we enjoy doing it," Bill said.

Sights and scents prevail over the Nettles' lush garden. An English boxwood was placed beside the entrance of their Lowcountry home for its aroma. Sweet-smelling Carolina jasmine, Confederate jasmine, Lady Banks Rose and purple morning glories provide complete shade on the pergola, just above a small fountain in the backyard.

Carolyn, a member of the Sea Island Garden Club, advises aspiring gardeners to "always buy good plants. Know where you're going to put the garden -- you get disastrous results if you put the wrong plant in the wrong location."

Roses are grown in pots so they can be moved around to where they best thrive.

To take advantage of morning sun, they have planted perennials including delphinium, calla lilies, hibiscus and daylilies in the side yard.

Among the items in their wildlife friendly yard, the Nettles made use of a 6-foot-tall tree stump to place a birdbath.

The Laings

A tree stump decorated with a flower pot and surrounded by more flowers is how Harley and Lily Laing dealt with one of the six tree stumps left in the yard of their Cottage Farm Drive home. Featured on the tour Tuesday, the Laing garden offers several areas of interest including a pool for irises and water lilies.

"The trick for us is to learn how to garden in the South," said Harley.

The entrance to the garden features purple pentuinas, white geraniums and day lilies.

Garden areas feature shade hardy plants such as hosta, bamboo, alstrumeria, hydrangea, azaleas and camellias.

Iron plants, ferns and evergreens thrive in sunny areas created by the Lanigs who had to cut some trees to find more sun for their garden.

One thing the Laings have found that thrives from their former home: pyrocantha, which is growing on a trellis in their front yard.

When the Laings purchased the house, the garden had been established, but they chose to mix it up by removing some azaleas and replacing them with roses surrounded by a Japanese maple. By taking a straight line of boxwood, the Laings created curves to create separate areas in the garden. A side garden features hosts and ferns and perennials.

"We didn't want to rush into it too fast to see what and when," Harley said. "We were trying to get things to bloom in different stages."

On tour herself

Nina McLean attended her first Garden-a-Day tour in 2005 with a friend who showed her "all the goodies," McLean said.

Hydrangeas and star shaped pentas greet visitors at the front of this garden. A waterfront view along the culdesac offers a posh fish pond has been converted into a fern garden. Orchids hang in trees and agapanthus almost ready to bloom.

McLean continued to take the tour and has learned more about gardening in the Lowcountry each year. "I desperately needed to learn as much as possible if I was going to get anything to grow," said McLean.

Laura Jacobi contributed to this story.