(soft music) – [Troy] When it comes to challenging lots for gardens this is a great
example here in rural Franklin. I’m with David Allard who is a well-known architect
around the Nashville area. And David, how long has it taken you to develop this garden
here on the hillside? – Well we’ve been here for 36 years. We actually lived down the
hill for the first four and have been up here for 32 and I’ve been slowly
trying to integrate this and integrate nature with
our lifestyle over that time. I grew up in rural Ohio
and moved here from Miami. So, when we came I was
really attracted to Franklin. It’s very much like our small county seed, and I wanted enough land to really garden and grow things, a variety of things. We were looking for
something like 10 acres. We scoured all over had
a very limited budget, and this was kinda like
a hard scrapple lot, 20 acres owned by an original poor farmer. You could tell by the
remanence of the farm, that there wasn’t much too it. And it was all overgrown. It was kind of a labor of love to try to transform it into something
that we could call home. – [Troy] This obviously, none of this was here when you started. – [David] No. – [Troy] The rocks, the pathways, the streams, the waterfalls. This is all built by your hand? – [David] Yeah, except the most
dramatic things, like trees. – [Troy] Like the big
trees, yes, of course. – [David] (laughs) The cedar tree, I love that handsome cedar tree. – [Troy] Right.
– [David] Of course, yeah. – [Troy] And then you just
kind of nestled the house in here on the hillside, amongst the trees and with
the garden as it’s compliment. – [David] And then the
natural rock ledges. A lot of these rocks are natural ledges, and I sort of enhanced
them with built ledges. But, this waterfall actually
goes over a natural stone ledge it goes right up to our
library, there inside the house. – [Troy] So even though
you planted a lot of this, you’ve done it in a very
natural style where the hostess and things that aren’t
necessarily native here are naturalized into
the existing woodland. – [David] Right, they look
appropriate for the setting. Even though they’re not native. – [Troy] Sure. And we can see we’re sort
of in between seasons here, but obviously in the
spring there are daffodils that are going dormant for the summer. It looks like you have an
almost constant show here, of some kind. Lush greenery. – [David] There’s always
something that looks great and there’s always
something that’s in decline. – [Troy] Right.
– [David] Sort of like life. – [Troy] Well (laughs) exactly life and gardening in general. This is a lot of space to
take care of obviously. So tell me a little bit
about how you manage a garden of this size. And some of the challenges,
maybe that you face. – Well, first of all, I tried to plant things that
are relatively low maintenance that don’t require dead heading, that don’t requiring spraying, that don’t require a whole
lot of tender love and care. – Exactly. – And I made a lot of mistakes
over a long period of time. One of the mistakes is I plant
too many different things. A lot of the things like
this big blue rupee, that does great. One of the big mistakes I’ve
made is letting the plants man, the love of plants, take
over the design aesthetic. So, “oh yeah I have to have
one of these, one of these.” Sort of like Doctor Strange love. And that is a no, no, no more plants. – [Troy] I completely understand, I completely understand. – [David] Part of what
I’ve done over the years is let this vinca, which
does really well for me. It actually came from my
mother’s house in Ohio. It seems to do well, and it mites and it has
a nice quiet green color. These uz I just put in last year because I’m trying to simplify things. I don’t have the energy I used to have, and try to keep up with things. Then the accent pieces
can pop out against it. – [Troy] Of course. You do have a lot of hostess, so I have to ask you about deer up here. Are they a problem? – [David] First, I have a lot of hostess because my sister in Ohio lived in the old farmhouse in
Ohio, has about 750 variety. Every year she brings me
about 20 different varieties. I said, “no, no I want more of the same.” I don’t want (mumbles). I started to have a list. But, deer have not been
a huge problem for us. – [Troy] Like me you’re
out in the country, and I think that’s a
little bit of an advantage because they do have other land to roam. And other things that maybe while there are things here that they like, there’s enough to keep them interested and occupied offsite. – Right. – [Troy] You obviously have
some natural rock ledges as part of the garden. But, most of these rock
walls were laid by your hand. And most of this dirt was moved by you? – [David] Yes. – [Troy] Tell me a little
bit about that process. – [David] The soil is the foundation of everything you do in a garden. It’s so important to have good soil, makes everything easier. What was here was rich but very thin, under a layer of very heavy clay. The reason for the terraces here and down in the vegetable garden, is primarily to provide me an opportunity to get much richer soil
without dramatically changing the landscape or effecting the trees. I’ve laid these rock walls
and there are a lot of them. But I’ve done them over
a long period of time. Collecting rocks from the property or from other construction sites or other kinds places. I just basically bring composted leaves or composted manure from friends, sand and dirt or whatever. – [Troy] Whatever you
can get your hands on. – [David] Whatever I can get my hands on, to really enrich the garden. Because it’s been done
over a long period of time, soils are somewhat different in different areas of the garden and things have matured
a little bit differently. But that’s been one of the principals of the whole way this garden is built is to provide really good soil. From wherever I’m gonna
try to plant material – [Troy] And I would
imagine that these terraces down this hillside also
help you to control water on the property a little bit, also. – [David] Yeah. Controlling rain water is
a big environmental push these days anyway. Because they’re relatively flat areas with landscaping it mimics nature in terms of being able
to percolate through. We’re on a porous surface here, rather than hard scape. A lot of the terraces and things, they’re all laid on sand. The rain water I collect in the gutters and actually channel to the pond. So it’s recycled. – So the pond actually
is filled with rain water right from the roof of the house. – Right, I allow this
bigger pond to drop down. If it gets so low that the pumps can’t run then I have to fill it in. But generally the rain
water keeps the ponds going. – That’s amazing. Down here at the bottom of the hill, you have this beautiful
row of crate mardels that gives definition to the end of the more ornamental part of the garden and then you have this little potiche or this little mixed
flower and vegetable garden down here at the bottom of the hill. Tell me a little bit about the garden and how it serves you. – I actually started this
garden when we moved up here and I was working and not real busy and I still wanted to garden. I had this small,
primarily vegetable garden. Now I use it for a seasonal garden. I do a lot of really
early spring planting, putting peas and lettuce and other kinds of things here. I do have a rabbit problem here. But, I cover with floating
row covers that kind of year. It helps with insects and things too. Now when we’re moving into full swing with the vegetable garden down below, which gets a lot more sun. I convert, throw annual seeds in. In the summer this becomes
more of a cutting garden. – [Troy] Little cutting garden. – [David] And this is a chance to have really exuberant flowers. – [Troy] It really serves two completely different purposes, which is kind of neat in
a small space like this. You do have one good sunny area down here at the bottom of the hill. How did this come to be in
the midst of all these trees? – [David] Part of it is
a lesson in gardening. I had a magnificent ash tree there. It was really one of the most
beautiful trees in the site. Big, tall, horizontal branches After about four years of struggling with trying to keep it healthy the arbor said “you gotta just let it go.” We took that out and it’s been a blessing because I was able to get a good lawn in and now I’ve got four grandkids so this is really a great area to say. I got a much sandier border too. We’ve really enjoyed it. That just happened last year. – [Troy] You’re able to grow a few things down here that you can’t grow in the shadier part of the garden. – [David] Right. – [Troy] And certainly this big open lawn. Like you said “the
grandkids come and visit, “it’s a great place to play.” and I think sometimes
just to have an open space to breathe in, to let the
garden breathe a little bit. Where you have a little bit of a rest. – Yeah, well that’s a good point. Part of the reason I put the box wood, because I do have gardens
that go down the hill and it’s too much. I think that box wood
quieted everything down and made this area a little formal. It’s a little bit more of a contrast. – It feels like a place
that you wanna come sit and relax a little bit. David, your garden is magnificent. Thank you for letting us come. – [David] I love sharing
what I know about gardening. – [Troy] But thank you so much. (soft music) – [Narrator] For inspiring garden tours, growing tips and garden projects, visit our website at volunteergardener.org or on YouTube at the
Volunteer Gardener channel, and “like” us on Facebook. (chiming music)