Get Your Free Garden Right Here
November 23rd, 2006 
by Susan Harris
Here’s what happens when you’ve been gardening your butt off in the same place for 20-some years, even if it’s a large garden like that of City Gardener Mike Welsh. Because it’s all garden and no lawn and was allowed to seed freely for years, it had become jam-packed with more plants than it can grow well. Just walking through his garden recently made me want to start pruning and yanking and giving all of his plants their own space. But better yet, he asked me did I know anyone who could use his extra plants?
Well, it was a lucky day for the family on my street I’ll call the Empty-Lotters because that describes the large backyard that came with their recently purchased house. After which purchase and paying for the changes necessary on the house itself, the plant-loving wife was sadly foreseeing emptiness outside her door for a long time to come.
So like the winners of a timed shopping spree, the family jumped into action. Enlisting the help of kids and spending $20 for a U-Haul truck for several hours (plus a mileage fee for the 5 miles involved) here’s what they hauled home from Mike’s garden:
- 3 Chinese elm trees, 8-10 feet.
- 3 American dogwood, (Cornus florida), 6-8 feet.
- 8 Mockorange, (Philadelphus), full grown at 7-9 feet.
- 5 Coralberry (Symphoricarpus orbiculatus), mid-sized at 2-3.
- 6 pots of what Mike called "native orange" and which seem to be Osage-orange (Maclura pomifera), 1-foot. One fine specimen in his garden is 15 feet and covered with small, colorful oranges and killer thorns. (In fact, the Empty-Lotters will be passing them along to any willing gardener.)
And next spring they’ll go back for as many Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ as they want after Mike does some serious dividing. Have you ever noticed the lushing-up effect of large ornamental grasses in a garden? I hope to be showing you photos next spring of the formerly Empty Lot, and maybe Mike’s garden, too.
So I suggest there’s a lesson here and it’s not just for people with empty lots but also for people whose lots aren’t yet full and lush and private. If you need plants, be on the look-out for freebies. Like if you know of any long-time gardeners near you, tell them you’re willing to take some of their extra plants off their hands. Offer to dig them yourself, ask for suggestions for growing them, and show a little gratitude. Because often you’re getting what even money can’t buy - full-grown plants that don’t need 3 to 5 years before they fill out and start to look like something.
And if the free plants you’re offered aren’t your very favorites, take them anyway. You can replace them over time with plants you like better, but at least you’ll have a GARDEN in the meantime. (Likewise, I try to talk neighbors out of ripping out all the plants they don’t love in their newly purchased yards. They should wait til they have plants to replace them, for crying out loud. And who knows - if they’re not in such a hurry to get rid of those "boring evergreens," they might just come to appreciate them.)
PHOTO: By Julie Wiatt of the Takoma Voice Newspaper illustrating my column about Mike Welsh, Takoma Park’s City Gardener.
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November 23rd, 2006 at 5:05 pm
I have so many plants to give away and never seem to be able to find anyone to take them. It’s crazy. I would have loved to have had a neighbor with freebies when I was putting my garden in! Happy Thanksgiving Susan. Have a wonderful weekend:).
November 23rd, 2006 at 6:58 pm
That is how it was done in my family growing up. Plants came from both my grandparents gardens. A purchased plant was a luxury.
To this day buying a plant for myself is only done when a desired plant can’t be found to pilfer parts of to propagate. I have access to large hunting grounds and I am not adverse to buying a plant I want to propagate for a clients garden.
November 24th, 2006 at 11:41 am
I hope these neighbors realize how very truly fortunate they are!
November 24th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
Giving and receiving shared plants has always been one of the great joys of gardening - nice story!
Susan, I wonder if the thorny oranges are Trifoliate Orange/Poncirus trifoliata. Those have small fruits that look like oranges, and might be hardy to 0ºF. How cold does it get in Takoma?
Osage ‘Oranges’ [AKA hedge apples] are bumpy and bigger than many of the oranges in the grocery store. We used them for autumn decorations in Illinois.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
November 24th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Annie - I googled for a photo of the trifoliate and that’s it - thanks!!
November 24th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
I can think of no other hobby/obsession where sharing with others is such a big part of it. Like many gardeners, I can go through my garden and point out “this came from so-and-so, and grandma grew this, and would you like a start of that”. It makes a garden that much more special to see all the gifts it contains, both received and given.
November 29th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
That has been a totally unexpected joy of gardening for me–the sharing of plants. My mother-in-law and I have been trading divisions back and forth for the past few years. Some of her daylilies now live with me and fill up an empty side yard, and some of my phlox, irises, and shasta daisies now live with her. It’s so much fun to see something you give away growing in someone else’s yard! And, in my case, my phlox grow much better in her yard than mine, so I think I’ll be giving them all to her this spring.
Nice story, Susan
December 20th, 2006 at 10:38 pm
Hi, Susan
I’m not sure what Miscanthus are, but I just moved to DC (Rosslyn) and am living next to what is now an exposed demolition site. In the spring, we will be looking out either over a bare pit or a construction area. We have a bare patch of land in front of our apartment window which we could create a small garden with; and out in front, there is an area where some trees were recently torn down by bad weather that no-one from management has bothered replanting.
This would be the perfect opportunity to get some of Mike’s plants off his hands- I’m a willing garden worker with not enough money to spend on a lot of seeds, plants and equipment; but defintely enough time to spend on transplanting well-loved freebies, and myself and my neighbors could really use it.
So, how do I find Mike? And is there anyone else in the area that you know of who would be a good person (or place) to start with? (I don’t know area garden/ers yet, but I appreciate any tips you can give!)
Thank you!!!
Nicole
January 1st, 2007 at 11:16 pm
i just moved to dc from seattle and left my huge garden. if anyone has any garden worthy info, free plants, growing tips, please let me know! send me an email