When thinking of recycling, most people think about cans, bottles, papers, etc.
Jean and Charlie Ladd took a different view.The Ladd’s garden features a trellis created from former railing
of the porches at the Wood County Historical Museum on County Home Road.When the museum decided to replace
its aging railing in 2008, they made the old pieces available to the public.Jean Ladd is a master gardener
and envisioned a new use for some of the rails. Her vision turned into her husband’s task of taking the
rails and building the trellis. Both are very pleased with the final result.A drive down Buttonwood affords
a view of the unusual trellis in their "historical" garden. In addition to the trellis, one area
of the garden features bricks from the former Ross Hotel, as well as pieces from the roof of the County
Courthouse."I always wanted to have an historical garden, though sometimes its a hysterical
garden," she said.The trellis was a work in progress for three years, as Charlie filled holes in the
aging wooden rails, built footers to secure the trellis, fresh paint, etc."They weigh a ton," he
said of the rails.Upon a closer look, the two sides of the trellis do not match. One of the rails is from
the first floor balcony and the other from the second floor balcony. The different levels featured different
designs.When the rails were replaced at the museum many of the pieces were run down, down-right
rustic.

The gardener now has Sun
Parasol Pretty Crimson, a tropical annual, planted in pots at the base of both sides of the trellis. The
plan is for the plant to grow up the trellis throughout the summer.A summer 2008 publication from the museum
notes the work being done to replace the aging and rotting handrails.The piece noted, "We took great
care to ensure that the new railings are exact copies of the originals."Kelli Kling, marketing
coordinator, for the museum, noted her pleasure in the pieces being used."I love that those pieces are
being re-purposed for something else," Kling said. "They are a testament to the intricacy of
architecture of their time period."Her research shows the porches with those original railings date to
the late 1800s."They are not only lovely on the surface, they have a hidden story," Kling added
"They have such a rich history and story attached to them."Kling noted that several other pieces
of the rails can be found in other gardens around the area.