Inside Margo & Larry Attic’s 40-Year Woodland Garden and Koi-Safe Oasis

I'm Joe Lample. When I created Growing a Greener World, I had one goal, to tell stories of everyday people, innovators, entrepreneurs, forward thinking leaders, who are all in ways both big and small, dedicated to organic gardening and farming, lightening our footprint, conserving vital resources, protecting natural habitats, making a tangible difference for us all. They're real. They're passionate. They're all around us. They're the game changers who are literally growing a greener world and inspiring the rest of us to do the same. Growing a greener world, it's more than a movement, it's our mission. Sometimes you just get a feeling about a place, about a person. Sometimes you're just drawn in for reasons that aren't apparent at the time. Sometimes, even though you might not be able to put your finger on why, there's a part of you deep down that instinctively knows you've stumbled across something special. And that's what happened to me right here, just two miles down the road from my own house in the GGW Garden Farm, a spot I've driven by countless times. But it was this little sign stuck in the ground advertising a plant sale, something we've all seen before. But for whatever reason, this time it struck me, so I turned in. I really wasn't looking to buy any more plants, and I certainly wasn't prepared for what I'd find when I met the couple who lives here. I quickly realized that Margo and Larry were outstanding gardeners. That much was obvious. But the longer I spent with them talking plants in their yard, I came to understand that theirs was a story that could teach me a thing or two about growing a greener world, and maybe teach all of us a thing or two about creating something magical, something that lasts a lifetime and beyond. I think to garden together, I think it takes a certain person, really, or a certain couple. Not everybody can do that, and I don't think you can train yourself to do that. I don't think you can say, I really like the way they work together, let's try to do that. I think it's something that comes naturally. First of all, it's love for plants and nature. If you both love plants and nature, then there's a pretty good chance you can garden together. I think it's sharing those common values, and we do. If you're together 24 hours a day, you really do learn to take on each other's values. It's really rewarding, and I think it really keeps us closer together, because you see the world with the same kind of eyes, that when we look at plants, we know that both of us are real excited about that. If we see something that's really unusual, we just can't wait to share it with each other, so it's really fun. Having your soulmate and your lifetime partner and your best friend as a gardening buddy, there isn't anything better than that. Our kids are a little bit concerned about us spending so much time together, because they feel, not that it's not healthy, but I think they're starting to think as we get older, you know, what's going to happen, you know? Is there... When one of us is not here. Yeah, but one of us isn't here, so I don't know. It's something I shouldn't be thinking about anyway. Just enjoy today. Enjoy my garden. Enjoy the beauty. Enjoy nature. That's all I have to do every day. Margo and Larry Adig have done exactly that, every day, just as she said, for 40 years. They met through a mutual friend and literally didn't spend a single day or night apart for the next eight years. It was love at first sight. I met her, and I just knew, and she just knew, and I know that it sounds strange, but we are in love like it was the first night, so it's just a wonderful life that we've got together, and we enjoy gardening together, which is really fun. My gardening life started off in Iowa. I was born and raised on a farm in Iowa, and we did a lot of row crop farming, so I had a lot of experience growing plants, and then we always had a vegetable garden, we always had an orchard, and we always had a flower garden, and that's how I kind of really got my love for gardening. That's how it got started. It's not really what I planned to do. I was in nursing school, got out of nursing school, tried corporate, got out of it, and just have always loved messing with plants, so it was probably in my blood from the very beginning. I just didn't know that. I wanted to be a nurse, but instead, I'm a plant nurse. I take care of plants. I just love it, and I go somewhere, I have to go to the farmer's market, I have to go to the botanical gardens. If I'm someplace where the plants aren't there, like at my daughter's house or my son's house, I like to mess with their plants, mess with their yard, can't wait to get home to see my own. I think it could be a possible addiction. I think I'm addicted to it, and I love it. It's therapy. It's serenity. Margo and Larry have been transforming this one-and-a-half-acre lot in the suburbs for over three decades now, all by themselves, but the garden they've created even surpasses many of the most memorable gardens I've ever seen. When I first met Margo and Larry, it was for a plant sale, and I'd made it up to about this point in the driveway, and now there are a lot of customers here, and I overheard Margo tell one of them that there was this trail back to the woodland garden. And I heard that, and I said, I've got to make a note of that. So when the crowd cleared, I asked Margo if I could take this woodland trail and visit that garden. She said yes, and I'm so glad that I did, and now they're going to take us and show you too. And I'm so glad you did too. Thank you. All right, so give me the 30,000-foot view. How did this part of your garden evolve? Well, originally, this was just a path to get to the backyard, and we really had no intentions of ever landscaping it because I didn't think it could grow any plants back here because it was just all shady. So I decided that we would start planting a few hosta. My mother gave me these hosta from her home back in Iowa years and years ago. So I planted a few of those, and they really multiplied over the years. There's so many things that do grow in the shade beyond just the hostas. You've got already several varieties, I've noticed, of the fern, like the Japanese painted fern. Yes. One of my favorites. Yes, I love that. And it spreads very nicely over the years. So we've had that for several years, and it spreads a lot. That's nice. Nice bonus. Yes. I'm not sure which side to look on because there's so much to see no matter where you go. Another one of my favorite ferns. This is Mariana maiden fern, right? Yes, Mariana maiden fern, and we prefer to it as the downy fern because it's real soft and downy. It's really, really a beautiful fern, and it spreads really rapidly underground, a lot like the ostrich fern does. So it's a great fern. We love that, and we have plenty of them. And I love that it spreads really easily because I have my shovel in the car, so if you see me digging a few up, don't worry. If you don't get enough, we'll have more for you in the spring. Deal. We'll be digging more of them. Perfect. I have to talk about this for a second. First of all, I love how many Japanese maples you have that I've seen so far, and I'm sure there's more. But what I love about this one, besides the fact that it's perfectly sited next to the pond, is the way that you've pruned it because the experts say that the way that you prune a Japanese maple is so that a bird could fly straight through without ever having to think twice. And you have that. It's so open and airy. I didn't know that, but I do watch sometimes when the hawks fly through these trees, it amazes me that they can do that. We've had this for about 25 years, and it's just kind of a natural thing for us. We kind of wanted to be able to see out, and so we just started pruning things off. But it turned out it does give a nice canopy for the pond, too. So graceful. See, I just love the naturalness of this and how you left that stump right there. That's art. Yeah, that's God's work. Speaking of art, what is this right here? What's going on with that? This is a big white oak tree that fell in a storm about two years ago and pancaked about four other trees. And after it was here, when they were cutting it up, the guy said, do you want me to grind the stump up? And I said, oh, no. Not at all. Let's leave it. Because I was thinking that as the soil washed off, it'd give kind of a spiderweb effect. And we're working on that, so it's getting there. And you've got the moss and the mycelium right here. You can't buy this kind of stuff. This is beautiful where it is. It's pretty cool, isn't it? Who would have thought to just leave that there and it becomes a focal point? We didn't really have any plans. And even today, when we do things, we don't really have a real plan. We'll walk outside one day and I'll see something and I'll go, you know what? I think we could do this. And so we will take a small area and work on that. And it evolves into something so far it's done very well. But that's kind of what we do. We just do it piece by piece. We don't really, we don't have a master plan that was a blueprint. We didn't have a landscape architect or anything. So everything has been, it's just from the heart and what we like and it turns out other people seem to like it too. And we could spend the whole day out here. We could spend the whole day out here. But there's a lot to do. But there's a lot of enjoyment too. You know, it's not just all work. And it's really important to enjoy your garden, enjoy what you're doing. Don't don't think of it as work. It's not work. You know, it's it's I feel very, very blessed. They say that if you take your bare feet and come out and put it on the grass or in the soil somewhere, that it'll immediately change your whole way of thinking. I don't usually have to do that. I just come out here. After 74 years of working in the garden, I'm at the stage in my life now where I feel like all I really want to do is share. And I want to share not only the fruits of my labor, but I want to share my knowledge to help other people know about gardening. Larry, you have some beautiful water features and some gorgeous koi in every one of them. But you also have one of these motion activated sprinklers. And I know that's there to protect those koi, right? Yes. Have you had a problem in the past? We had a real problem. And the big problem is heron and heron have incredible eyesight. They can spot fish from miles above, I believe they just can ferret them out. So we tried for several years. We use decoys and different things, but nothing has really worked until we got this. And we've had it about two years now. The reason I did this is because if the heron happens to land here and walk by any movement along this side of the pond, it's going to pick up, it's going to detect that. And so typically, unless he does come and land like on the bench or by the bench, that could be an issue. But so far, I've had it for about two years and I haven't lost any fish. Prior to that, I lost a lot of fish. Well, that's a testament. Yeah. It startles a lot of people when they're walking down the path, though, if you don't tell them about it. But other than that, it's done really great. I'm really pleased with it. What you're telling me is when I get my water features and buy my koi, I'm going to be buying one of these too. You definitely will. This is money well invested. Noted. You know, Margo, after I had a chance to tour your garden and see your home, I kept wondering why I felt so connected and at peace walking all around here and sitting inside. And I realized it was because I feel like nature is everywhere on your property, like with these pieces here. And then I realized that you are the one responsible for making these. Well, it starts by gathering some medium to work with. It's different kinds of barks, sticks, different sizes, different pieces, but I just pick up a lot of different things because I don't know exactly where it's going to lead when I start. Right. And then, with her garden materials and a simple hot glue gun, Margo lets inspiration take over on planting pots of all sizes, even the throwaway pots that the plants come in. Picture frames, decorative containers, sometimes larger tabletop items she finds at garage sales or the thrift store. Margo sells her creations at local markets and their own plant sales. Every piece a stunning study in nature and a one of a kind work of art. Anything goes. Yeah, they kind of all take on a different effect and there's no way that I can make two the same. I've tried. I can't. They'll say, can you make me matching vases? I just can't do it. But that's what makes it special. Yeah, I can't do it. What a great way though for anybody that wants to bring a little nature inside their house. What a beautiful way to do that and an easy thing to do if they wanted to do it themselves. Yes. It's fun. It's fun collecting it. It's just as much fun collecting it as it is to design it. But Margo and Larry's collecting also includes some pretty surprising plant specimens. I love this room. It would be my happy place. But it's definitely a testament to your ability to take care of plants because, again, every plant in here is in perfect condition. This right here, a Norfolk Island Pine, right? Yes. I'd say that's 15 feet tall. Yes. And I've had it for 35 years. I got it when it was 18 inches tall. It was my dad's Christmas tree and he gave it to me to take care of and he never took it back. And I've just raised it. I've repotted it several times. I fertilize it a couple times a year. And he just stays inside now all the time in here. And he's very happy. This is living proof to your ability and your knack for taking care of plants. This tree is showing you how good you are at that. It's my passion. Yeah. Well, it shows. Well, one thing I've noticed, actually I've noticed a lot around here, Margo, you have a real eye for design, but you also have a knack for keeping these plants looking in peak shape, especially the ones in containers because that's not always easy to do. No. I keep them trimmed up. I keep the dead off of them. I make sure that they have the right exposure. I also make sure they have the right watering needs. That's the big one, right? The big one. And you're supposed to keep your plants evenly moist. Well, how many people can keep their plants evenly moist with a watering can? Right. So, what I do is irrigation. I don't do it. But my husband, Larry, puts irrigation on these pots so that they can stay evenly moist and they can water themselves by getting a little bit of water every day for maybe two minutes. Okay. What you're describing is drip irrigation. Right. And now I'm seeing it. Yes. Okay. I didn't even notice it, but okay, you got the, you know, the spaghetti tubing, as I call it, coming down. Yes. It's all woven into the basket. He's got it going all the way over and down. He painted it. And he kept it so that it wasn't noticeable. And obviously, most people do not see it. And he's got it woven into the hanger and it's painted up there. That is slick. And he's got it on a swivel. He sure does. And that's good because you can move it around for exposure. Right. He has it on for two minutes every day. And that's the key. I got to talk to Larry. Nice. Well, Larry, I have bad news. Margo let the cat out of the bag. As to your secret for keeping those hanging baskets looking so good and yet hidden all the time, that stealth way you have of irrigating those with drip irrigation. So if you don't mind, I need to hear how you do that. I love that system. Okay. And so I use this thing. And it's a little manifold. And it has six ports on it. This can be screwed on the head of an existing head on your zone. Or you can tap into the line and run it, if it's not convenient, run it to where you want it to be and put this on also. As long as it stays on that zone so that it's controlled by the zone. Got it. And then we run a little quarter inch line up to and underneath the porch. Usually what I do is run it underneath the porch so that it goes up through the cracks or it goes on one of the posts and it goes across the ceiling and drops down into the hanging basket. There's elbows. There's T's. There's connectors. So that you can, and you can splice these off. So like if you run one line up and you've got two pots that are real close together, you can just put a T in there and run two lines. And then we connect it to the little spray heads. These spray heads have a pattern of about four inches. And you can control it by either opening or closing it. How much spray you want to have. Now for the people that don't have an in-ground irrigation system, it's still no problem. These are so easy to configure. You can just tap into your spigot or your hose or something on the side of the house and do the same thing. Right. And you can take a hose and at the end of the hose, you'll get a little adapter like this. All this stuff can be bought like at the big box stores. Right. You put this little adapter on there and then you do the same thing. Run your line up, run your spray heads. But also the thing that's really great about that, you can buy little timers. They're not very expensive. And they'll come on every day. I think the minimum you can do is like five minutes. But that's no big deal because if it overwaters, it's no big deal. They're going to drain. Right. And so that's the thing that I found that works really good. So those are pretty handy ways to do it. I like it. Great tip. I can't imagine what it would be like without having Margo with me doing our gardening. And I think about that sometimes. I think about it because as I am starting to get older and I realize how much fun we have together. And it is just shared love. And so when I think about that, it is just a little bit scary. I can't imagine what it would be like. I don't know that I could even do it. I can't envision gardening without him. And I don't think I could do it. For one thing, it's not as fun. It's not enjoyable. I mean, it's work. And I don't like my garden to be work. And that's why when we are out here together, it's fun. I don't. There's nothing I like doing without him. Nothing. One of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen. And one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever heard. All wrapped up in one. There's no way either one would exist without the other. It's easy to say that Larry and Margo created something magical with this garden. But it's just as true to say that this little piece of property has helped to create something pretty special and rare, too. And it occurred to me over the time I spent with them that when Larry and Margo are talking about their garden, they're really talking about their life together. You know, when I think about it, it just evolved. I mean, when I look at it now, I'm like, it's hard for me to believe that we really did this because we didn't have a plan. We liked plants. We just bought them because we liked them. We put them somewhere. And sometimes we had to move things. But, you know, it just, it amazes me, too, that it's turned out to be the way it is. Yeah. Sometimes when I look at the place now and think of what it was like, you know, that 34 years ago, it almost seems like it was planned. But it wasn't. And like she was saying, that it just evolved. And like we would look at one little spot and say, I think we should do this. And so we would attack that. And then we still do that. We just attacked an area over there this year and redid something. And so it's constantly evolving. But it's that common bond of both seeing the garden for what it is and seeing the beauty of it. And we both, we appreciate it so much. And I think that that just makes it so special. So every time that we're together in the garden, it's like being in love on steroids. You know, over my personal and professional gardening life, I've had the great fortune to visit a lot of gardens, some of the best of the best, both public and private gardens. And I love spending time in every garden. And they all leave an impression with me in some way. But there's never been a garden that I can recall that has left this kind of impression with me. But from the moment that I stepped foot into this garden, it just felt different, unlike any other garden I'd ever been in before. So in the days and the weeks that followed, I just kept asking myself, why was it that this garden felt so different and so right and so good? And I think I came down with two main things. And the first is that it is just a suburban garden with no big budget or crew to make it look this way. And the second thing, I think, is the winning combination and the secret formula. Two people that love each other so much. They're soulmates and they're life partners. And they share a passion for gardening. And more than anything else, than spending time together anywhere, spending it together in the garden, cultivating this magical place. That's what they love to do the most. And it shows. To not be in a hurry, but just to allow it to evolve over time, one day at a time, one plant at a time. Working with Mother Nature, the ebbs and the flows, the bad with the good, to cultivate and nurture what comes together over time. No need for instant gratification. That's special. And when you have that one person, that life partner and that soulmate that shares your passion for gardening, to do that together with, to create a place like this, that's garden paradise. And that's what Margot and Larry's place is and why it feels so special. I hope that you are able to share your passion for gardening with someone that special in your life. And if you are, you're one of the lucky and fortunate ones. And I hope to get to see your garden and meet you too someday. But if you'd like to learn more about what you saw today, we'll have that information on our website under the show notes for this episode. And the website address is the same as our show name. It's growingagreenerworld.com Thanks for watching everybody. I'm Joe Lample and we'll see you back here next time for more Growing a Greener World. I just want to conclude our great day with Larry and Margot Haddig and my crew here. And you know it's a great day because when you leave with plants, right? And that's Carl's Corner. And then I have a woodland garden that needs a lot of help. I've got a load of fern by itself. You knew that was happening.