According to Claire Fontana and Wylie Paxton, “Our garden is a transitional space from non-native perennial shrubs and herbs to typical natives and their respective habitats co-occurring on the property.”  Sited on the North side of the Salola Street/Carrier Street ridge, the Paxtons grow many fruits: raspberries, paw-paw, persimmon, plum, quince, and muscadine grapes.  For vegetables, they have developed raised beds, a cold frame site, and a kitchen garden.  North slope natives are also well represented with black cohosh, white wood aster, green headed coneflower, Turks cap lily, cardinal flower, bleeding heart, and many Spring ephemerals.  The space that used to be lawn now grows prairie plants such as big bluestem, little bluestem, false indigo, bee-balm, several coreopsis species, Stokes aster, swamp milkweed and purple coneflower.

At Jimmy Burns and Johanna Finkelstein Vegetable and Rescue Garden, ornamentals are slowly changing away from a mix of plants salvaged from the mark down racks and dumpsters of what they call “cruel big box retailers.”  (Jimmy muses, “Did we really need 720 pansies last year?”)  Different beds demonstrate their varying degrees of success with no-till, low-till and cover crop garden methods.  Vegetable beds contain root crops for late harvest/storage and the last of the summer veggies mixed with the fall planting of greens.  Elsewhere, beds are being prepared for next year’s fruit and berry plants.  (Jimmy added, “Fellow gardeners, share your fruit and berry stories and help us decide what to plant.”)  Note: Rescued plants ranging from herbs to azaleas are available for very modest adoption fees.  “No background check required.”

In 2008, RiverLink teamed with Baker Engineering to develop and implement a stream restoration and stormwater mitigation project.  Covering approximately 1100 linear feet of stream restoration and employing stormwater best management practices, the project reduces sedimentation and improves water quality in Buttermilk Creek and the larger system of Hominy Creek and the French Broad River which it feeds.  The project also provides connection to Hominy Creek Greenway and the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay.  Neighborhood volunteers helped with the plantings, removing invasive plant species and setting in live stakes.  Look for soft rush,big bluestem, nine bark, and silky dogwood.  The Clean Water Management Trust Fund provided grant funding for this project along with additional matching funds.

As a collaborative effort to keep West Asheville’s creeks clean, the City of Asheville, Riverlink and community volunteers will continue this work by planting, mulching and creating a new walking trail within the park. And during this year’s Garden Stroll, Higgins Horticulture and several volunteers will be working to amintain and mulch the planting along Buttermilk Creek. Please feel free to come by and lend a hand.

Norbert Artzt and John Denton’s Bear Creek Garden is a 1/3 acre, plant sanctuary that surrounds a modest 1946 red brick cottage.  Begun in 1996, it contains a rich collection of both sun- and shade-loving native plants as well as conifers, woody evergreens, flowering shrubs, perennials and vines, camellias, ferns, and lilies.  Over 300 different species fill the densely textured, mixed beds.  Both formally shaped and naturalized elements combine to produce stasis and movement and a good measure of beauty in all seasons.  Norbert notes, “The overall design, though essentially simple, draws the garden visitor along widening and narrowing pathways from one area to another.  Dominating the woodland landscape is a magnificent, centuries-old white oak tree, one of the finest in the city.”  Note: There is no parking on Bear Creek, please park at St. George’s Episcopal Church and walk to this garden. The sidewalk is on the other side of the street; please be careful when crossing the street.

After three years renovating their home, Joy & Hans Enderle turned their attention to the gardens.  In 2007, they added a retaining wall and fill dirt to create a level patio on the steep slope of the back yard.  Then, what was intended to be a raised flower bed became an L-shaped koi pond with a basalt obelisk fountain.  To manage runoff, Joy and Hans decided to create a dry creek bed swale with boulders and river stone on the southern edge of the property.  Plantings reflect Joy’s love of Japanese gardens: conifers and Japanese Maples, bamboo in a planter and as a screen beside the pond, as well as azaleas and rhododendrons.  “My garden is still a work in progress,” Joy says, “and becomes more beautiful each year.”

This garden displays a broad selection of herbaceous perennials, shrubs, and bulbs, some native to WNC, some to other states and foreign lands.  Among the many different garden areas Glenn has established, there’s a dahlia bed, a desert garden, a tropical area, a conifer berm, a shade room, and a bed for fragrance, with many of these areas defined by newly built dry stack walls.  “Gardening at my home for 13 years, I enjoy collecting varieties of salvias, poppies, ornamental grasses, bulbs, and elephant ears.” And for people wanting a new, enlarged or renovated garden space, Glenn’s landscape business (called Glenn’s Gardens) provides custom design, installation, and maintenance.  Call 828-337-4632.

The Waller Tract is 11 acres of land that moves West Asheville closer to completing the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan, a long-term plan by RiverLink to redevelop the urban riverfront corridor.  Bordering Hominy Creek, this tract will become part of the Hominy Creek Greenway which will link to Rhododendron Creek and Buttermilk Creek, extending safe pedestrian routes from West Asheville to the French Broad River, the River Arts District, and ultimately downtown.  The entirety of this tract will be placed into a conservation easement with permitted recreational uses, a move that will protect Hominy Creek from misguided development and further degradation.  The planning by RiverLink and the City of Asheville is now in the beginning stages.  Please email Nancy Hodges: Nancy@riverlink.org for more information.

Brotherhug and Janet Barlow moved to their home along Buttermilk Creek in July 2006 and began transforming the grassed yard into a paradise garden designed to provide beauty and high quality foods for people as well as wildlife for many years.  The garden was started by sheet-mulching the front yard to prepare for spring plantings and laying out paths and beds using permaculture techniques.  Over time, additional garden areas have been added, including a 600 square foot vegetable and flower garden (fenced to avoid sharing ALL the bounty with wildlife), a shady perennial area, and a recently added water garden, with more planned.  “It has been a slow process with all work being done by hand, but is generating great yields of wholesome food, herbs and flowers,” says Brotherhug.