By Tovah Martin
Michael Trapp:
Legendary antiques collector/interior & garden designer Michael Trapp would never describe his gardening trajectory as an uphill battle, but he definitely had a steep learning curve when he decided to landscape around his West Cornwall shop 30 plus years ago. His not-so-secret solution was to terrace the space, using the excavated topsoil while leveling off to enrich his planting beds. The result was so totally romantic and intriguing, he has become a proponent for multi-leveled landscapes, “An elevation change is so much more intriguing.” Plus, his garden is well-drained and full of micro-climates. What types of plants thrive? Bulbs love it. And he avoids botanical drama queens. “If they are sensitive, they die,” he shrugs, “leaving more space for something else.”
Favorite Tool: A long-handled four-pronged hoe similar to the tool his grandfather wielded. “It dispatches weeds in far corners,” says Trapp who invariably gardens barefoot (but that’s just between you and me).
Linda Allard:
It’s no secret that Linda Allard, the famed fashionista, has an affinity for vegetable gardening. A massive walled vegetable/herb garden pumps out the produce beside her Washington home. Long ago, she began incorporating flowers between her veggies. Her secret to success with interplanting is to give both vegetables and flowers plenty of room by spacing her beds between pathways for easy harvest. Hungry veggies like tomatoes and onions are given bountiful space. And fast crops such as Asian greens, lettuces, spinach, and arugula are replanted after harvesting.
Favorite Tool: Not only does Linda Allard have a prodigious basket collection, she always stashes a trowel (“Any old trowel”) ready for action in her back pocket.
George Schoellkopf:
Like many other Litchfield County properties, George Schoellkopf is marshalling a generous chunk of land at Hollister House Garden, his 25-acre masterpiece open to the public at regular intervals throughout the growing season. His secret in the war against weeds? He enlists his own army of “weeds” and lets them thug it out. “It’s the economic way to deal with a large garden,” is his theory. He’s particularly fond of self-seeders such as Verbena bonariensis and Perilla frutescens. “Some gardeners don’t share my love of shiso,” he admits, “and they call it perilla gorilla.” He even welcomes the athletic spreading comfrey (Symphytum azureum) because it wrestles “the vicious goutweed” and wins.
Favorite Tool: George Schoellkopf has stringent rules for his “go to” shovel and no wooden handles are allowed. “My shovel handle doesn’t break.”
Page Dickey:
Page Dickey needs less than a nanosecond to think up a secret she is dying to share. For the past six years, the famed gardener/author (her latest book is Uprooted: A Gardener Reflects on Beginning Again) has been digging deep into Church House, the Falls Village landscape shared with husband Bosco Schell. Dickey enlists bulbs in her conspiracy to extend the garden season. Cunningly, she incorporates bulbs into perennial beds rather than delegating those early risers into separate spaces. She places splashes of scillas, snowdrops, early alliums (like Allium moly), Colchicum vernum, dwarf narcissus, fritillarias, and species tulips to rush around before the shrubs leaf out. Snowdrops are a particular favorite, “They multiply in the most satisfying way,” she advises. “Place them especially along your pathways where you’ll pass often.”
Favorite Tool: A hand cultivator with flexible tines. “It’s like an extension of my hand all summer long,” she says of her super weeder.
Bosco Schell:
Writer and fellow garden luminary Bosco Schell is the other personality behind Church House in Falls Village. Potted plants are his favorite domain and they dwell in a greenhouse (aka “his playpen”) over the winter and then take up positions outdoors when danger of frost is no longer an issue. Bosco dabbles in everything from pelargoniums to succulents, but begonias are his babies. His secret flies against the rules for keeping them salubrious. “Rhizomatous begonias need more water than I was led to believe,” he explains. With more water, his begonias are amazing. “And everything goes out for summer camp,” he says. The succulents are staged in the sun, begonias go under the canopy of an apple tree.
Favorite Tool: To expedite repotting, Bosco wields an old dinner knife to run around the pot edges and liberate the roots. Then he uses dinner spoons to insert the potting soil around the root ball. And finally, an old-fashioned clothespin with a rounded head is leveraged to firm the soil in the new container.
Litchfield Hills Nursery, Kent Greenhouse and Gardens, and Cortina Gardens have a comprehensive supply of garden tools.
