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♪

Well, hello. Welcome to Making
It Grow. We're so glad

that you can join us. We are
going to do something

that really is fun.
We're going to visit

people's gardens. So that
you get to enjoy all the

hard work they've done and
just take in the beauty

from the comfort of your
own living room.

The first place we're
going to go is to the

top of Paris Mountain

outside Greenville. Davis
Sanders took us up there and

introduced us to this
lovely couple the Bradshaws.

You know some husbands
and wives can't

garden together because
sometimes one person has

a strong idea or the other
person doesn't agree.

This couple seems to have a
wonderful relationship

and the transformations
they take into this tip top

garden are absolutely
phenomenal.

We are at the top of
Paris Mountain near

Greenville, South Carolina
in a garden that

appropriately is called
Stoney Waters. And this is

the garden of Dee
and Bill Bradshaw.

Bill this is a wonderful garden
and

y'all knew
a little bit about gardening

in this kind
of zone or environment because

of being from Arkansas.
But you didn't know

what was going to
happen when you tried

to put a shovel
in the ground.

Right. This soil is

very much like Crush and
Run except it's red.

So what we did was build
terrace walls and then dig

out the more native soil
and sift it to get the

gravel, the larger pieces
of gravel. And then we

brought in about
120 cubic yards of

good soil to mix in with
the native soil. But you

had a beautiful bedroom.
You have a post-and-beam

house and you wanted a
view from your bedroom.

And I think that started it.
Yeah, actually I decided

to build the house so that
every room has a window

that looks out on what
would eventually become a

garden. And so over the
seven years that we built

the gardens around the
house, we would add to the

garden for each of the
windows. And the first one

was the triangle the first
one was the triangle

garden, which is what we
could see from the master

bedroom. And let's talk a
little bit about that one.

Well the most prominent
feature that it has is

a hibiscus that is

red and about the size of my
hand

and we have some images
with about 40 flowers on

that hardy hibiscus but
you also everywhere we look

have lots of
hydrangeas, the white woody

hydrangeas. Some being the
native oak leaves and

some being the
paniculatas yes. And

they are a feature that we
see repeated throughout

the garden and we see a
lot of them there too and

everywhere we look we see
plants for pollinators

the echinacea and
Rudbeckia is just evident

when they talk about
repetition how wonderful

that you're using
something and so

valuable to the
native- We have a lot of

native pollinators.
And they're so many

different kinds too. And
then we go from the

triangle. You finally
decided that you would

since we were on top of a
mountain that maybe you should

use some curves to what I
think is a crescent garden

Yeah, virtually all the
rest of the garden are curves.

We tend to like
curves more than straight

lines. When you sent me the
original pictures of the

garden I thought it was
acres and acres and

actually. It's about an
acre. Yeah but

you feel like you've gone
around the world

and so I go to the Crescent
Garden and that's kind

of out there more open and a
very sunny spot.

It's a good bit. Just a nice
variety of things.

And you said that's kind of
typical of y'all.

That's not a master
plan behind it.

No we just did each section.

We'd finish a
section like in the Fall.

And then we do another
one in the Spring and then

during the summer we just
coast through and

try and keep everything alive.

No wonder. Because you don't
have you irrigation.

No. We do not
we water everything by

hand or with over
sprinklers.

As we move on around we get
to a little

Charleston garden which is very
sweet and has a little fountain.

Then we come to what I
think is not as showy

but I think very
beautiful and that's that

hillside shade garden. Right.
And that's the

termination point of one
of our streams.

And it's a shade garden that's
built into a rocky hillside.

Everywhere I look is rocky.
And I know you

brought a lot of
amendments up here,

but the one amendment
you did not

have to bring was rocks.
Most of the rocks

in fact all of the
rocks that are

in the upper garden
are what

we call the mountain garden

where we're sitting now
have come out of these

beds. They've been dug to
about 18 inches in depth

and you find a tremendous
number of red native

rocks when you start
digging in these hills. And

then as we move on around,
I don't know why

Dee thought that she was
going to sit and enjoy

breakfast and a second cup
of coffee at all. But she

did. And so she planned I
think that was the

first water feature
perhaps. Yes.

So tell us about
that water feature.

Well, in Little Rock
when we lived

there for seven years, we
did have a small very

small pond right outside
of our breakfast area.

When we decided to move
here, she said

she wanted to duplicate that.

So we did it on a grander scale

But it is one that you
can look down from the

breakfast area into the
pond and then we have two

waterfalls that go into
the pond.

And moving uphill from that
we have kind of a grand pool.

That's the 3000
gallon pond. And

it is primarily useful to us in
terms of

water lilies. And we
have pictures with 18, 20

water lilies blooming
at one time in that pond.

So you really haven't
limited yourself to one

particular type of plant
material.

You have a lot of flowering

perennials that come back
you have

a lot of shade
loving perennials you

have woody plant material
and then one of the things

that I think is a cohesive
force and really makes it all

fit together on this
mountainside is your use of

conifers. We enjoy the full
year view that they provide us.

Yes. They also make
a nice transition

because your property
very fortunately abuts

a park. Right! Paris Mountain
State Park is one of our

neighbors, the neighbor to
the east. So the Sun rises

over Paris Mountain State
Park into our bedroom.

Then when you thought
you could

rest on your laurels
a piece of property

up mountainside came available.
Right! Where we're sitting right

now is a piece of property
that we bought the lower

half of. It's roughly 200
feet by 70 feet from our

driveway and we've spent
the last six years

developing gardens in this
space. And I think

one of the most beautiful
aspects of this garden is

the sunset garden, which
is right behind us.

And this is the time to see
it with the day lilies

blooming although we do
try and have it also

continue through the
summer with coleus. But the

day lilies are the
showiest part of

the sunset garden. And we got
that idea out of a book

I read that Monet had both
a sunrise and a sunset

garden where the plant
material gave the colors

of the two times of day,
so we decided to focus on

the sunset. Bill, there are very
few times when you were

sitting and getting to
enjoy the fruits of these

labors. I think you told
me that y'all spend in a

thousand hours. Well
between the two of us,

we're spending about 700
hours each in gardening

activities. Now that
includes going to buy

plants as well as
planting and watering and

going to dump with the
plant material that's

being trimmed and thrown
away. But this is a garden

that looks like it would
be a garden at an estate

where there were full-time
gardeners and yet I think

it's remarkable that you
and your wife have

put your passion for
nature and

your love for the
outdoors and in

creating this and in sharing it
with people.

I know that you have
fundraisers here

and it helps
support a garden in

downtown Greenville. And
and we want to appreciate

your opening the garden
to Making It Grow today.

Well, we're happy to
have you visit.

Thank you.

When I first heard

about this garden I thought it
was several acres, because

it's so many complex
different features. There

are some that reflect
Asian influence. They're very

interested in that. And
then there are others

that have a French
influence which has

particularly been
accomplished through using color

I think they call that
the Monet garden.

And then water is such an
important aspect. They

have lots of different
filtration systems. It was

quite an education for us
to go there. They have

waterfalls. They designed the
garden so that as you

move throughout the
property, not only do you

have all these different
themes, but also as you sit

at the breakfast table,
look out from the

windows upstairs, you see
different parts of the

garden that been enhanced
and really have different

thematic situations that
they've managed to

accomplish. Bob Smith
lives not too far away

the Paris Mountain. He's in
downtown Greenville, right

outside of Greenville. And
he is interested in Koi.

Of course Koi have been
the rage for a while.

They're such beautiful
fish and many people

simply just have a
Koi pond. Not Bob Smith.

He's turned his entire
backyard into an area

that reflects the Asian
influence of this fish

and uses water in many
different aspects.

Of course, he has the pond
that has the fish in it,

but then he has water
tumbling over. He takes

advantage of the natural
elevation of his property

to have waterfalls and
then twisting areas.

He brings in plants that
reflect the Asian

influence of the Koi. It
really was a wonderful

journey and we want to
thank Danny Howard, a

friend of ours who
introduced us to Mr. Smith.

♪

We are in Greenville, South
Carolina

in the Japanese themed garden of

Bob Smith. Bob, when you
came here, this was I

think one of those yards
that gets yard of the month

for overall neatness and
tidiness because it was

nothing but turf grass and
trees. No, it was a

blank canvas is what
it was. And is that what

you wanted? That's what I
wanted,

So I could create my own garden
which is what I have done.

Greenville and the upstate
are notorious for infertile, not

infertile but hard to
deal with clay soil.

Did you feel like you needed
to transform the soil?

I brought in about 20 truck
loads of soil,

topsoil and river sand and I
mixed it together

and formed berms around the
entire yard, which

I use for plantings for the
larger trees,

which gives
us total privacy.

One of the ways you also
created the privacy here

is through your use of sound,
natural sound, the way

you allow nature to
provide music for you.

Let's talk about
how that operates. Sure.

The number one thing for
me is the waterfalls

I have surrounding me.
And then, two, we have a lot

of large chimes
throughout the yard to

take advantage of the wind and
I have made a 2000-year-old

concept called Mohican wind
harp,

when the wind goes prevailing
wind goes through

strands of nylon it

creates a very low harmonious
sound going through the yard.

Kind of a [humming sound]

Exactly. Sets you in a
meditative mood after

you've been working all
day and need to cool off.

And sleep. So I always go down
and my wife calls a hermit

shed but I call
it my teahouse.

So I go down there.

Imagine if you were down
there and she needs you to

take care of a very
important honeydew

she can take that little
mallet and strike that bell?

Now that my hearing gets
very poor when I get down there.

[laughter] let's talk
about the beautiful bell.

Thank you. The bell was
originated

back in 140 years ago 30
miles south of Beijing, China.

It was at the front
of a monastery.

A lot of times these
older artifacts are

taken to the market to be
sold and I had

a friend of mine in town that
had a business

who would go to China twice

a year and shop for
those types of things.

Everything I had my yard
is at least

100 years old. It's usually
hand-carved, granite

or stone or like this
bronze bell which

I have and we had it
now for about a year.

We came up here today because
we did not know about the

beauty of the landscape.

We came to talk about the
Koi ponds and you said it

wasn't so much the fish
but the water associated

with it that brought
it all together.

Let's talk about this
beautiful Koi pond.

Sure. If you study the Japanese
garden you know

it has to have a Koi
pond in it right?

I started with a waterfall
concept and I had to decide

how big I wanted the Koi pond to
be which is measured

in gallons of water.

The one behind us
is 3500 gallons.

Right now, it has too
many Koi because

of the reproductive habits.

So, I will be giving some of
those away to

the Clemson University
for Dr. Beecher.

He's coming next
week. I'll give

him a lot of Koi from
my lower pond

which is twice the
size of this one

and also hopefully
he'll take some

of my gold fish which
are getting big also.

So, they are small but
they grow very quickly.

They do.

We are about 20 pounds and
28 inches on

some of the Koi down
here in three years.

They started like that.

There's a technique that
you need to use

when you're
establishing a Koi pond.

Quickly explain to the
viewers how you go about that.

What you do, basically,
decide what shape you want the

Koi pond to be and
how large it needs to be.

Then you want to plan the
specific like waterfall

steps coming into the pond.

This only has two.

That one has five because
it's about a 60 foot

long waterfall stream.

So, what that does is create
a variation in the pond.

You want that and you
need aeration, if you have

a lot of fish. So, that's
important.

I have five aeration devices
in the lower pond and

three in this one for that
purpose.

And I really I enjoyed seeing
the different

types of stones within the pond.
The stones are round.

And then on top
they seem to be more angular.

Is there a reason for that?

The reason is you have
Koi when they are spawning.

the female Koi are
bigger than the male Koi.

They move around slower.

What they do is
they'll move around

the edge of the
pond and you will see

them get chased by
two or three male Koi

around the edge of
the pond and they'll

hit the female on
the side like this

You can hear
them, slapping.

And causes the egg
to be released

and the males fertilize it

and it comes out
in a very sticky ribbon and

attaches itself to the
walls of the pond.

These walls are made from
river rock,

which is rounded going
down by water.

That prevents the
female from getting hurt

against angular rocks.
So she's pushed against the

wall and she won't be injured.

But then above that you
have a different type.

Tennessee field stone
and it's flatter and

sharper
and easier to stack.

As we look up here
on the upper pond,

there is what looks
like a precariously balanced

structure of stone.

You said that has
an interesting story.

The karen was
originated in China.

Went to Japan and then came
to Ireland and Scotland.

This was 2000 years ago.

Why did they-
You said there were

-- trail markers
and signs of good luck.

So I have a karen here and one
down here in my sand area.

Again, I want to create as
much luck as possible.

You have a good bit of
bamboo here

and you said
you do keep after it.

You have to.

Even though, these are
theoretically noninvasive

bamboos. I have
black and yellow.

They are invasive
so you have to keep

your eye on them
because in a few days you see

strands growing from here
to 15 feet away.

They will grow up to 30
feet high within six weeks.

You have to be
careful with them.

The black bamboo is
very beautiful and use

that from a commercial
source in the creation

of your lovely teahouse.

I did.

I purchased it from a
group in California.

I picked black bamboo because
I like that color and

we stained it a similar color.

It's stranded together with
steel wire

so it comes in rolls.
It's easy.

You just have to cut it
which is not easy to do.

which is so hard but you
cut it to size you need

and put it up as a wall.

And then as we look around,
you have so much privacy

although you are in the
middle of the subdivision.

You've used many
Asian seeming plants.

Particularly the conifers
and the Japanese Maples.

Let's talk about
the conifers first.

Some of them have
such a variety of color.

These are all different shades
of green and pretty hardy.

That's why I like them.
And then of course,

since we do
have an Asian theme,

the Japanese
Maples are so beautiful.

Yes. I enjoy them.
That's my favorite tree.

The one that is beside you
stays burgundy all summer.

It is an old one. It's probably
12 - 15 years old.

I purchased it when it was not
too much smaller than this.

I have probably 25
different Japanese Maples

throughout the yard. They grow
pretty aggressively here.

Then, I just can't imagine

how many rocks you have
picked up and moved but

there's also a spring bed
because you have

a fairly steep slope here
and that area down there

could have been just a morass.

It was much like a bog
when I first got here.

Like you see that section,
the full riverbed,

So I put in, I dug
a slight hole, a ditch

that's about 115 feet long

into a drain but then
goes under my burn

and goes on out to the
national regular topography.

And so, then you put in weed
block, rubber liner and stone.

The water flows
down that slowly.

It filters out.
It'll also feed your

yard, but it won't sit there,
it keeps moving.

This has been like a
trip to Asia for me.

I love history and to
understand the reasons

behind architecture
and why certain things

are done in different ways
and how to interpret it.

It's connection with the
past is just fascinating.

I wonder if we could almost
consider this,

It's certainly for me

it's been an education
and maybe

we can signal the end of
class by going

down and striking
that 150 year old bell.

That would be fine. Okay.

Bob Smith, thank you for
sharing this beautiful creation.

Thank you very much.

♪

(bell gongs)

One of the things we most

enjoyed about going to
Bob Smith's garden was that

as you went into the
backyard, you felt like

you've gotten off a plane
in a different country.

It really was that dramatic a
setting that he had

created very effectively
to give you the Asian

feel. Everything in it
was perfectly designed. He

even has made a
collection of Asian

objects that add to that
feeling and sense of being in a

whole nother country. But
it all took place right

outside of Greenville. And then
into my home community of

Calhoun County, There is a
garden that is perhaps

one of my very all time
favorites. I don't get to

travel very much. But
thanks to Erline Wiles,

who does travel, I get to
enjoy all the knowledge

that she's gained on her
European trips and has

brought home to a large
garden in Fort Motte.

Erline's husband, Kelly
Wiles was a famous farmer,

very accomplished and he
encouraged her in her

garden work and helped
her. Erline still is out

there at the crack of
dawn. She's a good farmer's

wife, working in her garden.
This is not a garden where

Erline says please do
this. Please do that. This

is a garden where Erline
herself does so much of

the work and it is her
creation. And she still

tends it very beautifully
to this day.

♪

We are visiting with my friend

Erline Wiles in
Fort Motte, South Carolina.

Fort Motte is a wonderful

farming community.
To which you are bought

as a young bride in 1949.

That's correct.

You grew up in a family
down in Barnwell

and y'all farmed. That's
correct.

You helped your mother some.
I did. I did. I guess.

I guess we are just born with
the instinct

of loving flowers and
working with flowers.

I think I have had
all my life.

When you came here
there was a neighbor

who encouraged you.

Who was that, Erline?

That was Ms Ethel Keith.

She was a hardworker
and such a nice lady.

She had beautiful flowers
and she helped me

so much getting started with my
yard.

She had access to a
place that we could buy

the azaleas very cheap.

She got me about 100.

They were not very big but
they grew to be very big.

That was quite
a gift I guess.

It was. That's right.

And from there I just
got it started doing

little beds and putting
things here and there.

I love the stories of how you
branched out into roses.

Would you like
me to tell you? I would.

One day the salesman
came by to talk

to my husband and
he was trying to sell him

some grain bins and Pauley
told him

I am not interested grain bins.
I really have enough right now.

He says, if I can't sell you
some, grain bins, how about you

let me
show you some rose bushes.

Of course, Pauley
being a farmer,

he was not in to flowers.

He said I am not interested
but go by the house

and my wife might
like to have some.

He came by the house
and talked to me.

Told me to come to Columbia

and he has at the co-op,
so I went to Columbia

and he helped me
pick out some.

And I planted a little
bed. And I fell in love

with them, no doubt about it.

And eventually that led to a
very formal part.

One of the first things
you have formalized.

Mr Prickett from town
came to help

you lay out the rose bed
which had a brick border.

And now it's
a feature as you drive in.

That's right. That's right.

Tell me how that evolved
into more

of the mixed aspect that the
rose garden has now, Erline.

Well, at one time I just
had roses and nothing else.

I had a trip to
England and I saw

how they had mixed the
perennials and things

with the roses and
how pretty it looked.

I got back home and I
started putting

perennials and I love
the perennial flocks.

I put a lot of those and
all kind of different

perennials and things in it.
People love it.

Although you don't like
invasive plants, there a couple

of things that you
make an exception for.

I think, the Larkspur and Queen
Anne's lace.

That's right.

That comes up from
seed every year.

I just leave a lot of it.

What I do is if I don't want
a lot of it, I take the

the bushes out
after they have seeded.

I just scatter a few of the
seed about and so I won't

have a tremendous amount of it

coming up in the bed
because I do love it.

It is so pretty in
flower arrangements. It is.

Although we might think
those sheep are out there

in lieu of lawnmowers, I
believe those sheep represent

some things you enjoy bringing
back from the trips to

England and Scotland,
is that correct?

That's correct.

When I went to England we saw
so many sheep.

And we are not used
to seeing pastures

of sheep everywhere like
you do in England.

It kind of impressed me.

When I got back I had a
catalog that I saw them

in and I ordered a pair.

And then I went to Ireland a
couple of years ago

and I saw so many
sheep and they had so many of

them that had the blackheads
and the blackfeet.

So, I had to get a set
of those too.

[laughter]

You brought a little of Great
Britain home with you.

That's right! Erline, you have
beautiful hydrangeas.

What an incredible
array of colors.

I think you rooted
a good many of them.

I do.

Hydrangeas are
very easy to root.

They grow pretty fast.

They have new ones now
that will bloom all summer.

A lot of them could take
more sun than the older variety.

One thing I love is the
way you have them tucked

under the pine trees.

It's hot in South
Carolina and you are not

somebody that thinks
it's got to be

a blazing meadow.

I think hydrangea is the back
of the house under the pines.

And you've unified
them with things

like high stone ferns. I have.

I even have azaleas with
camellias that bloom early.

Then the hydrangeas come in.
And, usually all along

And then, across the way,
after Hugo, when there was

all that destruction you
kind of opened up a new area.

Goodness.

I would've been so glad
to relax at that point.

There is a big beautiful new
garden over there and you have a

lot of large shade
trees there, Erline.

I do. They grow really fast.

You got some that are unusual.
You got a wing nut.

Yeah! And I love that tree.
It's beautiful.

You want to know
where it came from?

It came from the
zoo in Columbia.

They used to have a plant sale
in the spring

and in the fall.
One year I was there

and they had this
tree for sale

and I bought it.
Everyone loves that tree.

It is so pretty.

And a willow tree that seems to
have almost a twisted leaf.

A weeping willow.
It's weeping willow.

But a different one.

It's nice for flower
arrangements too.

Also, you have a
lot of structure

that comes from some viburnum.

You believe in structure.

Why be been attracted
to the viburnum's?

Because of the blooms
and the foliage.

It is very attractive.

It's very easy to grow.

The cold does not hurt them.

It is a nice plant to have.

It has been so much fun
to look at the plants today.

and see the insects on them

and the flower
just seems to be a magnet.

I walked out there this morning
kind of early

and I've never seen so many
butterflies on

those cone flowers
and things out there.

They were just fantastic.

you said you don't take the
heads off -

you leave them for
the birds? For the birds.

They love the seeds.

If you want some to plant
yourself,

you have to get them
and scatter them or whatever.

The birds will eat
every one of them.

Of course we are here in
the glory of the garden.

You just had your 90th
and a half birthday.

I'm afraid so. A great party to
celebrate the garden.

You have made sure things
all throughout the year

by trees and other shrubs.

How about crepe myrtle and
Japanese maples and things?

Oh yes! I love those too.

There's not many flowers
I don't love.

And they have unusual colors
in the Fall and Spring.

The Fall and Spring, that's
right.

And you have conifers and
different things for the plant

materials and the
leaves this color.

I like the contrast in the
flowers and the

conifers and different
leaves on the plants.

I think they complement each
other.

Your husband, Pauley
Wiles was a premier farmer

in South Carolina.

Although he did not come out
and pull weeds with you,

you credit Pauley with
supporting

you in your gardening.
I certainly do.

He was not good
with a hoe and a rake

but any time any of
my equipment was,

he provided me with good
equipment to work with.

Sprayers and hoses and rakes
and he

made a wonderful box
like trash pickup for me.

We can just go
to the pile of trash

and put that
trash in there

and it picks up to take it off.

He was good at inventing
those kinds of things.

Anytime a sprayer or lawnmower
or anything broke down,

he would fix it for me.

He was a big part
of this garden.

Erline, for this
birthday party,

you realized something you
wanted to do for

many years as if you
didn't have enough gardens,

there's a new garden.

Let's end our conversation
by discussing the new garden.

I have had this
in my mind for years.

I had just not got
to implement it.

So when we were going to have
this party,

I decided I would do
something in special

in remembrance of it.

I had in my mind
what I wanted to do and

I happen to be at a very
nice nursery in Columbia

and I saw the two pots that I
had envisioned for years.

(laughs)

They were on sale.

So, it may be that much
more anxious

to get
them and start my bed.

I had a wonderful man that
helped me do the work.

I designed it.

I think it turned out
really pretty and

I've had a lot of
compliments on it.

And we enjoyed doing it.

Erline, when I come back
for the next

birthday party I want to
see that native honeysuckle

all the way.

I hope you will.
I hope you will.

Erline, one thing about
this garden is

that you haven't been
in a hurry and it shows many

years of devotion and care.

Thank you for
sharing it with us.

It's been my pleasure.

It really has.
You have a very nice show.

I enjoy it and I'm sure
a lot of other people do.

Thank you for
your kind words.

All right.

♪

For a garden that started
with a traveling salesman

and a few roses, there has

certainly been a
transformation in the

acreage that Erline has
created and still tends

to this day. And one of
the things that I think I

enjoyed most about that
garden is that she

unifies it through the
use of large trees. It is

a large space. And so she
uses the natural trees

that were there, plus
trees that she's added,

kind of as a cohesive
force. Her backyard is

very intimate as you saw
and then as you move on

out from the house, there's an
expansive garden.

Erline keeps up with all the new
plants. She doesn't just

rely on the old standards.
There's always something

new that's happening out in
Fort Motte with Erline Wiles.

Bill Lyddan is in downtown
Charleston from lots of acreage

to a postage stamp garden, but
one that is equally well

thought out and planned.
His house there which is

of course is an
antebellum home and

reflects that classical
architecture is very

symmetrical. And he has
taken that as the

influence for his small
but complex, and well

thought out, mostly white
and green garden. And

even when he was able to
make some major changes

including a fountain and the
stairs, he looked to

antique and classical
influences as his design.

♪

I'm in Charleston South
Carolina visiting with Bill

Lyddan and his beautiful house
in Downtown Charleston.

Bill it's a treat to be with
you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. It's
wonderful having you here.

You've had an interesting
career and lived a lot

of places. So give us a little
background about your life

before you came here. Yeah,
I've lived all over the place

So, a long time in New York,

and Los Angeles,
Chicago, Minneapolis in the

advertising business.
I came here in 1977.

Absolutely loved it. No real
jobs in advertising here.

But we came back in 2010
and we love it.

It's a wonderful
wonderful place.

I think that you really are a
general contractor at heart.

Tell our viewers how many

homes you have redone. We have
done in Los Angeles,

Connecticut, here eighteen
houses.

And in Charleston itself? Four.
This is number four.

We've been here just about ten
years.

Do you know where your
toothbrush is at night now?

I hope I do. I know it's we
love the old. We love old

houses, old things, antiques
and this is, We got a lot of

them. Well you have a what I
think is a manageable garden.

But when you came here there
was no way to get up to the

main floor of the house.

So let's talk about the stairs
and why they are so different

looking from what would have
been the stairs here. Exactly!

When we bought the house we were
told that

this house probably had a set of
stairs to the main floor.

Because when we bought the

house you enter through a small
entrance with two small

bedrooms. We realized there
probably were stairs. Now there

was a huge earthquake here in
eighteen eighty six.

The entire front of
the building was lost. And

this is all new piazza.
You can tell that because it's

a Victorian style. So we were
able to go to the board of

Architectural Review and they
were very nice about it.

And they said yes you could

you can put in a new stairs,
which we did. And that kind of

dictated the entire garden.
Because everything came off

the stairs. And I was telling
you earlier Chicora wood

which is a beautiful plantation
up near Myrtle Beach was kind of

our inspiration for the style of
it. And it all worked

out very well. Interesting that
you said although you think

everything would have to be just
correct and relate to the

period. That's not the current

style. So let's talk about why
these stairs are not exactly

copies of what would have been
there. Exactly the current

thinking and preservation and
this is throughout the country

is that you don't want to
recreate something that was

there if it wasn't. If it wasn't
there originally it has to be

look like frankly, it's new and
added on. So and this is the

case. Now the style of it comes
from a Chicora wood which is

very traditional. But it's in
cement as opposed to wood.

They don't want to kind of
fool the eye and add a

reproduction elements on
to the old houses.

So that's how we
approached it. It's still we

think very pretty and it's
still graceful. But it is

technically new in style. It's
also not attached to the house.

Technically it's not attached to
the house although it looks

like it is. But it's a
traditional house

with a traditional style
staircase.

But actually it almost serves
as a statue or a piece of art.

Exactly. And that's the
way the B.A.R felt about this.

You know this is going to be a
major major element in your

garden which it is.
So it kind of dictated all

the geometry of the garden
itself and

we created what's
basically

we call a French style partir
garden with gravel walkways.

But it all comes off the stairs
so you can you know gracefully

go up to the main floor of the
house and still enjoy the garden

at the same time.

Reveal conceal is a little bit I
believe the way the fountain is

located. Yes. You know the
Japanese theory of gardening is

that you don't want to see
everything in one view. You want

to be surprised and be able to
discover various parts of

the garden as you walk around
it. And that's the case. We

wanted to have a fountain. We
wanted the noise of a fountain.

The sound of it is so wonderful
but we didn't necessarily want

to have a major thing in the
middle of everything. So we

wound up putting it next to
the staircase and you can even

hear it but not necessarily see
it. And it really blends

beautifully with the somewhat
contemporary aspect of the

stairs. It's a very particular
thing. It is. You know

we found it on the Internet.
And it's made in Pennsylvania.

It's absolutely perfect. We had
a spot for it. Did a lot of

research. And I said that's it
you know. We bought it.

Had it brought in.
It's extremely heavy.

Put in place and looked
like it's always been here.

And you are actually
interested in

timepieces I understand. You
actually have a watch on.

Yes. That's a digital watch.
And you have a timepiece in the

garden? Well we have...Yes we
do. It's called an analemmary,

which is a fancy name for a
sundial. And again we found that

on the Internet and it. You'll
see them in the pictures.

That it is a nice
complement to the stairs.

It gives you a little bit of
elevation. And it seems very

authentic very kind of
Charlestonian in nature.

And you said also the wall at
the very end was not what you

wanted to be the closure
of your view. I think.

Does the analemmary serve
as a place

for your eye to rest?
Exactly! You know everything is

a matter of perspective in
gardening.

And you want,
normally you want symmetry.

You want the
eye to be calm. And you want

your view to go somewhere. And
ultimately we thought the view

could stop at the analemmary
and I think it does.

And interesting plant material.
You were fortunate

in that you have some marvelous

shade trees. Absolutely! We have
some beautiful Live Oaks

just classic Low Country. Messy!

(laughter) But Yeah!

They lose leaves constantly
but we have seven

very very nice olive trees. And
also you'll see four beautiful

beautiful pretty rare tree
formed Azaleas,

which you know add a whole
different dimension to a garden

quite a different look for an
Azalea.

And you were able actually
through

the help of a very accomplished
horticulturist/gardener to save

some of the original plant
material although

this design is completely
different and your design

because you like to garden and
do things yourself. Yeah we love

design. We love art. And so on.
Robert O'Dell is

our landscaper did a marvelous
job of saving the box woods.

Cause when we bought this house
there were thirty-three

beautiful box woods in

the ground and normally when you
transplant you always...

We had these four beautiful tree
formed Azaleas also in

the ground. He was able to save
them all and put them back in

the earth a year later. It's it
was good job on his part.

And although

color can be a lot of fun in
this garden in order. I think

partially perhaps because
of it's size and also your

inspiration this is mostly one
color as far as farm. That's

right we like green and
white. You know and I was saying

earlier. it's like a black dress
with white pearl. Its classic.

It always looks good and we
think it's the same thing

with a garden. It's calming
with many different shades of

green of course and many
different shades of white. But

the uniformity we think is
pleasing to the eye.

At least for us. I would think
that these box woods

and all that were so well
established

don't require as much irrigation

and you do not have a lawn. I
don't see a lawn at all.

We have no lawn. We didn't want
a lawn. We wanted it to be very

classic French with a
limestone walkways.

Simple and we hope
elegant. We have drip irrigation

which is great, It's a great way
to save water. And you'll

notice this huge big Podocarpus
hedge. That was created

with twenty two massive
Podocarpus from Florida.

Big big job to put those in.

They were all drip irrigated.
So it, you know, it conserves

water and they seem to be doing
fine. Well it was interesting

because when we first tried to
start filming there was a lot of

mowing, blowing noise coming.
Yes. And this

garden actually contributes to
the quiet, We hope so. ...of

the neighborhood. We hope so.
I think you know

it's nice to have a quiet
environment to read a book, just

to enjoy the other beautiful
nature here. Before we

close I want to ask you this
flag looks like it doesn't have

a lot of stars on it. Is there a
story behind that? There is

This house was built in 1835.

In 1835, the American flag was
24 stars. And that's what this.

A 24 star flag. And you can,
thanks to the Internet you

can find that out and you can go
buy it. Well Bill Lyddan, I am

happy that although you
have an appreciation

for history you also have
brought this wonderful house

into the more modern times in
such a graceful and beautiful

way. And my garden too. Big
credit to my wife Hildy.

It's fun we love it. We love
these old houses and you know

we're stewards of them and we
hope we can add something to

the beauty of Charleston.
Charleston is very fortunate

that you've made this
your home.

Thank you. Thank you very much.
We're happy to be here.

Our next stop is in

downtown Beaufort where
Linda Peters for many

many years had a
Montessori kindergarten

and she created a garden
that not only spoke to

children, but also was a
naturalized spot in the

heart of the city.

♪

I'm in Beaufort,

South Carolina in a downtown
tropical paradise.

I'm speaking with Linda
Peters. And we are in her

five acre garden, which
she and nature have made.

Linda, thank you for
letting us come. You grew

up with farmer's daughter, I
believe. I did and I

loved every second of it.
but it wasn't a place

where you go tropical no
it was a dairy farm we

had a hundred acre dairy
farm and we milk the cows

and corn and wheat
and that sort of thing.

You came to Beaufort and you
were educated as a

Montessori teacher. And so
I think this garden and

property serve two
purposes. It was your home,

your school and your
creation.

Home schooling what I
love to do. What age children

did you have? Three to
six year olds. And how many

did you have? 20 every year.
Well and we start right

here where we are, with
something that's very

child size. And lots of
people use them. And I

think it's like a little
fairy land. It's our

little fairy garden. Yes
the wagon my husband

found. It's an antique
wagon. When he brought it

home, he said
do something with it

Oh that'll make

a great little fairy garden.
So he fixed it and put soil in

and then the moss and stuff

and add the little
fairies and of course

the little miniature
turtles and lizards

and things and then we
made a beautiful fairy garden.

And for mothers and grandmothers
and fathers and grandfathers,

how does that help
children develop their

minds in a nontraditional
teaching and looking in a

book way? Well we have a
lot of vocabulary in

there, a lot of
colors and

different creatures and
moss. And we get

mushrooms in there. And
they love to walk around

because there are different
things on every side.

For them it's like the
perfect vantage point for

them because they can
just look in it's right

there at their eye level. It
was wonderful for them.

I'm sure it was. As we move
back into the woods

what's one of the first
fun little areas that we

encounter?
Well we have, the

first maybe fun
area is the

prehistoric lane, where
I have a lot of

dinosaurs hidden and
tropical like plants and

I have a dinosaur and
that I made out of

concrete. And we have a
pterodactyl that flies in

the sky and
the mother dinosaur,

she's a topiary,
with a big red bow and

the children love.
That might be their

favorite area
just because they love

dinosaurs. And of
course there again a

teaching spot because which

dinosaurs are meat eaters?
And what about their

body allows them to do
that? How can you tell

this is a prey animal? Yes.
All the names they love

the names of the dinosaurs.
Yeah, which is wonderful from

so many ways to learn to
pronounce things. That just

trains your tongue and helps
your memory as well.

So survived getting through
the dinosaurs.

(laughs)

And we now go on to
another section of the

garden. We pass through
the orchids and then we

went to the fish pond,
a Koi pond.

Which is pretty large and I have

some really large Koi in
there. And you said that

it's fun because we all
have different

topics to study. And so
we walked back there and

here are these enormous fish.
And you feed them

probably more than you
feed yourself and your

husband. My husband
would say they

definitely get fed more
than he does.

(laughs)

And yes we do and
we so study fish

We go out and actually
one day it was sometime

in summer school and I said okay
children take off your

shoes and they said, 'Oh Oh!'
So they did and I

let them all sit on the edge
with their feet in the

water. One little girl
looked at me and said

This is the best day of
my life. Wonderful.

Yeah. It was beautiful. As we
move on and out,

what's the next area that
the children are gonna

be fascinated by? I've been
fascinated by every place

you took me today. After the
pond we went by the

peacocks and the chickens.
The children always love

to see the animals. They love
the animals. And you've got

chicken sitting by you
right now with you. Yes I do.

And also in that, with
the peacocks and chickens

you have somebody came
hear unexpectedly.

A Lillie Egypt goose. Lucy the
Loose.

And she just flew in. She looked
real happy this morning.

She's very happy. She has the
new flight feathers.

Well and surrounding
us now

you've got those
wonderful groves of

clumping bamboo and I can
hear a lot of happy birds

in those. Yes the
redwing blackbirds

especially right now. They
love that bamboo. And they

stay pretty good
for a long time actually.

You like to make things
in your spare time...

(laughs)

but, you're good at it.
You use these allocacia

colacacia leaves and cast them.
I do.

I have a table out of there
we passed by and I put

the sand on and the leaf
on upside down and then I

mix up the concrete and I found
the concrete on and then

leave it there for a few
days and tip it and

then it makes a beautiful
bird bath or whatever you

want. In the bog garden, I
guess do bullfrogs and

all use that for habitat?
Absolutely, we have

so many frogs and
bullfrogs and toads and

everything loves that
garden. But you even got roses.

I do. I have a rose garden.
Well, right now it's a

salvia garden because
a salvia always thinks over.

But I did grow amazing
roses. And of course,

salvia like many of the
plants you have, is

attracted to the pollinators
and insects. That's why

it's there. The
bees and hummingbirds,

they love it.
and butterflies. So that's

why they're there. As a
dairy farmer's daughter,

you have to have some
cows, but I think you've

got em little smaller. We
do, we have a

little miniature garden
with a miniature houses

and miniature animals and
miniature cows, miniature

pigs and little
paths and a little pond that

I made out of
concrete. So your students

probably know that milk
and eggs aren't manufactured

in the back of the store?
I imagine this was part of

their learning experience.
Definitely. When we

had all the citrus trees,
when the

oranges are ready
I say let's go harvesting.

We take the ladder
and the wagon. We

fill it up. We come and make
orange juice. Whatever

with our lemon,
we're going to make

a lemon pie. Whatever would
bloom that week,

we do it. You do have some
beautiful citrus. What are

some of the things that
you're going back there?

We have some calamondins
and comprods. And then we

have a few orange trees.
And we have that

lemon that you love,
that ponderosa lemon.

It's enormous. It
has to have its own

little table to hold it up.
I've actually had it

break that branches because
it's so large and

heavy. And then you've got
a swing tree. We have a

swinging tree with several
swings on it. There's

nothing more beautiful
than seeing a group of

children swinging on the
tree. And then I was

getting a little tired
and needed a place to sit

down and I found some
friends who looked like

they had been tired a
long time ago. They did.

It's Jack and Jill, the
skeletons.

They're waiting for
people to come by and

there sign said we've been
waiting a long time.

One of my favorite native
plants is sparkleberry

Nexium. And you have
sparkle berry lane and

it's even more sparkly
than normal. Yes we have

danglers that we
got out of an ad in the

newspaper and we hung all the
danglers

and the children
love it. And then we kind

of end up our wonderful
walk through the garden with a

festival coming back to
the house. Well those

magazines. I saw a Mardi
Gras tree in a magazines so

we gotta have a
Mardi Gras tree so we,

I chose the tree and then
we got a

ton of beads and
everybody that's been

here has thrown some
beads in to the tree.

It's great fun. And then
we're so now we're back

at what had been the
playground for the

children. And I imagine
that in the coming years

since the children will
be coming back to the visit of

course. They always come
back and visit but this

is now another space and
I imagine that things

will start happening here.
I may.

Linda Peters what a
wonderful opportunity

and head start to life
you gave children and to

have children who are
going to remember this

joyful experience of
nature. And I bet you've

made a contribution to
the environmental leaders

of the future.
I actually know I have.

A lot of them. Thank you
very much and my pleasure.

Thanks to Laura Lee Rose,
Linda taught both Laura Lee's

son Sam and also her
granddaughter Clara. And thank

you for being with us
tonight. We hope you

enjoyed going to visit gardens
across the state. And we'll do

more of this in the future,
because it is Making it Grow.

♪

Making It Grow is brought

to you in part by the
South Carolina Department

of Agriculture certified
South Carolina grown

helps consumers identify
find and buy South

Carolina products. McLeod
Farms in McBee

South Carolina. This
family farm offers

seasonal produce
including over twenty two

varieties of peaches.
Additional funding

provided by International
Paper and the South

Carolina Farm Bureau
Federation and Farm

Bureau Insurance.