The Country Hills Garden Club is pleased to award the July Beauty Spot of the Month to Tony and Patty Miller at 10113 Spring Lake Terrace. 

The Millers have been residents for over 35 years.  They recently have put a lot of effort into transforming their yard from mostly grass and azaleas to a plethora of pollinator friendly plants and natives.  The landscape transformation has been a joint effort, with Patty choosing plants and placement and Tony providing the labor.  They are proud to note that no pesticides have been used.

As you approach the house, symmetrical fenced areas flank the driveway.  Each are anchored by butterfly bushes and a host of brightly colored perennials.  The bed on the right contains daylilies, liatris, native wild iris, coneflower, aster, and coreopis.  A lone clematis clings to the fence and celosia dot the foreground.

Celosia and coreopsis are continued in the left side bed, however here is where the pollinator action is in full swing.  An assortment of brightly colored bluebeard, coneflowers, zinnias, and sedum cover the area.  Black lilies are in bloom and a grouping of common and swamp milkweed, along with butterfly weed, provides a sanctuary for young Monarch butterfly caterpillars.  This area is a magnet for busy bees and birds.  A multitude of nests are tucked away in the barberry bushes and bees bounce from flower to flower.  A solitary snowball bush along the back waits to bloom again in the spring.

The flower bed along the front of the house contains a lush green landscape with pops of color throughout.  Patty has included purple sedum and bearded iris collected from her Grandmother’s garden long ago. Porcupine grass and Autumn Joy sedum hug the brick façade with bright blooms from daylilies and astilbe woven throughout. A collection of Easter lilies grows larger each year from gift plants received.   

Ostrich fern predominantly line the property border helping to control run-off.  The Millers believe they have over ten different kinds of fern throughout their property, but they have lost count! Located along the side yard is a weeping redbud, an orange azalea and a hidden black raspberry patch. 

The Miller’s have put a lot of effort into their pollinator paradise, so as you get ready to watch some fireworks this coming 4^th,  we hope everyone will check out some of nature’s colorful fireworks as well.

Have a happy and safe July 4^th weekend!

Kirsten Youngren

Country Club Garden Club

The Country Hills Garden Club is pleased to award the June Beauty Spot of the Month to Steve and Pam Caruso for their meticulously well maintained landscape at 3420 Park Hill Place. 

The Caruso’s have been residents for over 30 years and are second-time winners of the “Spot.” Their vision over the years has helped to transform their entire front yard into a sweeping expanse of color and texture, with multi-season interest.  A good steward of the Chesapeake Watershed, Steve is proud of the fact that no chemicals or fertilizers have been used in maintaining the front and side landscapes for over five years.  This has involved a lot of sweat, a kneeling pad for weeding, and plenty of mulch!

From the sidewalk, you are invited along a flagstone path that diverges, taking you through two thoughtfully landscaped areas.  The lower left side yard path is lined with daylilies, red Asiatic lilies, a prominent Japanese acuba, liriope and yellow and Siberian irises.  As you meander along you will find pachysandra covering the sloped yard under a mature holly and azalea bushes close to the house.  Wooden steps, built by Steve, transition you to the backyard where a vegetable garden and Pam’s favorite zinnias await.

The alternate path bisects the front yard which includes various shrubs, perennials, evergreens and ground covers that help control erosion on this sloping landscape.  The top area is covered with irises, green and gold, black-eyed Susan, narrow leaf sunflower, and hostas.  Hostas are continued in the bottom area and interspersed with creeping blue spruce and gromwell, blue spiderwort, sedum, and a focal crepe myrtle.  Bright pink and purple phlox cascaded over the wooden retaining wall just last month.

The areas flanking the driveway include bright pink knock-out roses and a carpet of bugleweed, various hostas and a Little Henry sweetspire.  As you approach the front door you are greeted by lacecap hydrangea, ferns, a butterfly bush, and a flower bed that contains Eastern blooming cacti, creeping phlox and bulbs waiting for another spring.

The Caruso’s have put a lot of effort into their landscape evolution over the last several years, so we hope everyone will take time this month to check out their home. 

Also, please don’t forget to visit the CHGC annual plant sale this Saturday, June 4^th from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, taking place at the Skoglund home at 3415 Country Hill Lane.

Kirsten Youngren

Country Club Garden Club

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Happy Spring CCH!!

After an extended hiatus, the County Hills Garden Club monthly Beauty Spot is back.  Early spring weather conditions impacted the opening of buds and blooms, but gave residents ample time to work on their yards.    Driving around the neighborhood, it is clear that spring has finally sprung. Azaleas are ablaze with color, dogwoods are dotted with white or pink flowers, and there are many spring bulbs bursting with blooms all around.

There are so many wonderfully landscaped CCH homes to highlight, choosing one is always so difficult.  We are thrilled to award the May 2022 Beauty Spot of the Month to Jill and Drew Toth of 9934 Pinehurst.  We have been watching their progress over the last couple years and their yard now offers many seasonal delights.

The Toth’s have been residents since 2001 and are first-time winners of the “Spot,” congratulations!  After moving in, they learned from a neighbor that the former owner maintained an “immaculate yard.”  After many years of raising a family, the Toth’s were finally able to devote some time, love, and sweat to expand their landscape vision.

Jill initially spearheaded this effort with many well-priced online plant purchases that caught her eye.  More recently, she has been focused on including natives in her landscape design.   Jill has given considerable thought to include various types of plants and shrubs to enhance the overall visual appeal and provide multi-season interest.

As you approach the house, what once was a chain-link fence separating the neighbor to the left, is now an oasis of color and texture.  In this landscaped median a Hinoke cyprus provides a central focal point with bright pink azaleas and flowering hollies that lead your eyes up the property line.  Various types of sedum dot the landscape, some spilling over rustic clay pots.  Spring ephemerals such as daffodils, tulips, and bloodroot are still going strong.

In the coming months, the drift roses that anchor both ends of the bed and the interspersed catmint, yarrow, and daisies will have their moment in the sun.  Tucked away behind the drift roses is a lone red stick dogwood waiting to provide a pop of color during those cold winter months.

Anchored by a mature abelia shrub, the mulched area leading up to the front door welcomes you with squill, dwarf and Siberian iris, sedum, and a prominent collection of peonies.  Rectangular stones create a pathway that wraps around the front of the house, inviting you to take a stroll around back.  The front of the house includes evening primrose, bloodroot, bearded iris, rhododendron, creeping phlox and thyme, allium yet to come, and a star magnolia.  A “Rustic Love Vienna” sign shows their support for a local non-profit helping to feed food-insecure families.

While not easily seen from the road, along the right side of the house, smaller beds line the stone path that leads to the fenced-in backyard.  Here you will find a shade garden with lily of valley hellebore, astilbe, and toad lily and a stone garden with sedum and creeping Jenny.  Along the fence bordering the right side of the property is another bed with St. John’s wort, peony, azalea, spirea, obedient and rudbeckia plants.  The fenced in backyard continues to wow with a cherry tree in full bloom and additional shaded beds with many types of hosta, ferns, huechera, azaleas and euphorbia.

The Toth’s have put a lot of effort into their landscape design over the last couple years, which has earned them their inaugural “Beauty Spot.”  We hope everyone will take time this spring to check out their home, as well as the many other beautifully landscaped homes in our CCH neighborhood.  We look forward to featuring others, veteran winners and newcomers, in the coming months.

Kim Leone and Kirsten Youngren

Country Club Garden Club

When Tim Jacobs landed in CCH in 2008, he describes the yard of his home at 3406 Brookwood as having a “good footprint”, but well, in need of a makeover. However, the former professional landscaper saw lots of potential and has brought that potential to life, earning him the CCH Beauty Spot for November 2021.

Tim mixes hardscape and eclectic plantings to create layers of stone and shades of green, framed with a brilliant canopy of fall-colored leaves. He has given considerable thought to how the rolling yard can best enhance the overall visual appeal. From a line of maple trees on the yard border, an ivy-covered stone walkway separating a lush stand of rhododendrons from a mature cluster of azaleas, the sand-colored pebbles of happy accident that dog legs the walkway – the rolling yard transitions gently from one planting area to another.

Plant selection comes down to what catches Tim’s eye and fits the budget. He also prefers landscaping that will stand the test of time even if it takes a bit longer for the initial installation. His work gives CCH a yard that greets you with the fiery red leaves of a dogwood contrasted against the still green leaves of the maples. A ring of Windsor stone encircles the trunk of a large maple and overflows with silvery-green mounds of artemisia offset by the bright yellow of hostas as they fade in the fall chill. Gold mop cypress, pieris shrubs, ornamentals hostas, and a lone pair of elephant ears that haven’t gotten the memo winter is coming, fill the beds framing the house.

The zebra grass, one of Tim’s favorites, in the side lawn catches the light of the sun as it sets seemingly ever-earlier these days, cueing the solar lights it’s their time to shine and light the bed borders and walkways. He’s pretty happy with the durability of his stonework, noting the previous stonework couldn’t hold up to the network of tree roots, but “so far, so good” he says of the stones he’s laid over the past years. Now if he could just get the dogs to contribute more positively to the backyard! 

As the cold winter nights approach, take advantage of the fleeting daylight to admire the Jacobs’ outstanding landscape.

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.  We’ll be back this spring to feature another amazing CCH property.

Kim Leone and Kirsten Youngren

Country Hills Garden Club