Good gardeners adapt to changes

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Lynne Mazur speaks on
her stone wall garden in the backyard her residence in Bowling Green. (Photos: Enoch
Wu/Sentinel-Tribune)

Good gardeners understand the need to be flexible and to be able to adapt to changes. Gardeners have to
work with the conditions and surroundings and make adjustments as needed.
Lynne Mazur has done that with her Sheffield Drive backyard.
When she and husband Bob moved to the home, there was one tree in the backyard and a sand ridge which
provided a natural border along the back of the property.
Mazur has transformed that space to what she calls a "very private area where we still feel like
we’re out in the country."
After they moved to the city, she heard tales of how the ridge of sand came to be. Years ago when the
area was still farm fields, Mazur said the farmer who owned the land had built a fence in that area as a
windbreak for the blowing sand.
That fence eventually became covered with sand, so the farmer built another fence on top of the new
sandbar and it also became covered.
Mazur wasn’t sure of the story’s accuracy until a neighbor family started installing a pond. They dug out
their area of the sand ridge and found the stacked fences.
"It’s just all sand from blowing across the corn fields," Mazur said.
Thus, the former farmer and Mother Nature provided a nice hillside in the backyard for the Mazur family.
As the hill was being transformed, a new home was being built across the street and the builder
uncovered piles of stone and rocks. On a whim, the Mazurs asked about using it and the builder was happy
for them to take the rocks and save the expense of hauling them away.

A lawn chair, is seen
near a garden in the backyard of the Mazur residence in Bowling Green.

The Mazurs now had the hardscape materials to convert the hill to a layered terrace.
Her husband calls the garden her "rock pile."
When the couple first moved, there was only a small walnut tree in the space and Mazur, being new to
gardening, planted mostly annuals. She quickly learned the value of perennials and continued to add more
and more each year.
"I was not into yard work until we moved here," Mazur said. "Now it has kind of consumed
me."
The walnut tree, though small, was very productive and the couple offered a grandson a nickel for each
walnut he picked up to clean up the yard. To their surprise, they ended up paying him roughly $40. Fast
forward 16 years or so and the tree has grown considerably and continues to deliver walnuts in great
numbers. Last year they paid a neighbor girl a penny per walnut and she received $38.
The tree’s growth, along with additional trees planted in the yard, have considerably reduced the amount
of sunlight which reaches the sand dune terrace garden. Mazur continues to adapt as more and more of the
perennials are converted to shade lovers as opposed to those which require greater amounts of sunlight.

"We have gone from almost total sun to total shade," she said.
Currently there is a small area which does get good sun and is visible from inside their home. Her
daisies and other flowers will provide vibrant colors for her "pretty much all summer."
The couple have made other changes over the years, such as adding steps to make it easier to get to the
hostas which adorn a great amount of the top of the sand dune. There is also a relaxing patio area under
the walnut tree. Mazur said they like to sit there because there is often a nice breeze.
"The trees make it cooler, it’s very cool like at the City Park," she said.
Like most gardeners, Mazur has found the hobby involves a lot of adaptation and work.
"I really do enjoy it," she said. "If you don’t, it really is hard work."

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