Gardening 101 with Shaker’s Flower Lady
By: Sue Angell
Tags: Home Improvement, Gardening, Flowers, Cleveland

If you’re a resident of Shaker Heights, chances are you’ve visited Linda Klein’s house to marvel at one of her many gardens. Klein, also known as “Shaker’s Flower Lady,” has been creating artistic landscapes in her front, back, and side yards for more than 30 years — and admits to being thoroughly passionate about, if not obsessed by, gardening.

“When you garden as heavily as I do, you have to be a little bit crazy,” Klein says. “But it’s a good kind of crazy — a happy crazy.”

But gardening hasn’t always come easy to Klein. She wasn’t born with a green thumb, and is the first to admit that she’s made many mistakes with her flower beds along the way. In fact, Klein began puttering around in the yard simply to keep an eye on her son and his friends after school without them knowing that she was nearby.

Three decades later, Klein’s casual hobby has grown into a full-blown addiction, and created a yard that has been pictured in newspapers and books, as well as on greeting cards and calendars. Klein’s gardens recently were featured in the January/February issue of the Garden Gate, a national magazine. With exposure like that, there’s no doubt that Klein has a few tricks up her sleeve. But is she willing to share her trade secrets with the rest of us?

“The most important aspect of a garden is its soil,” says Klein. “You’ve got to take time to prepare your flower beds if you want to get good results with your plants.”

If you’re a novice gardener, Klein’s advice may sound confusing — if not downright difficult. Not to worry, says Jonas Pattie. Preparing a flower bed is easy — if you have the right tools. “Use a rototiller to break up the existing soil and add a good blend of animal and leaf compost to the flower bed,” says Pattie, the director of marketing and an assistant sales manager with The Pattie Group, a landscaping firm located in Novelty, Ohio. “Once that’s done, you can start planting.”

But how do you know what to plant, and when to plant it? Easy says Klein — just follow a few simple rules, and everything will be coming up roses for you in no time at all. “First and foremost, you’ve got to figure out a plan for your gardens. I design my garden with three things in mind: the view from the sidewalk, the view from passing cars, and the view from my house.”

Also important, says Pattie, is to think about how you plan to use your garden. Do you want to attract birds and butterflies? Or are you more interested in creating a pleasant oasis where you can entertain your family and friends? The answers to these questions will help you pick out the plants and shrubs that are most appropriate for your particular lifestyle and landscape.

Once you have decided what you want to plant, make sure that you get it into the ground on time. A good rule of thumb is to plant bulbs — for example, tulips — in the fall so that they bloom in the early spring, and to plant annuals around May 15. “Bulbs provide spring color,” says Klein. “Once they die down, your annuals and perennials will provide color throughout the summer and well into the fall months.”

Some of Klein’s favorite annuals include impatiens, begonias, pansies, lilies, geraniums, and sweet potato vine — all of which thrive during Northeast Ohio’s warmer months. But she also plants perennials such as phlox, astilbe, coreopsis, hastas, lythrum, delphinium, monk’s hood, and feverfew to provide color and interest, as well as different texture and height, in her gardens.

Another important gardening tip, says Pattie, is to use a good balance of deciduous and evergreen shrubs in your garden to ensure visual interest all year long. “If you plant rhododendron, azaleas, or holly bushes, you’ll get a good mix of color even in the winter,” Pattie says. “For a more dramatic look, consider planting a midwinter fire dogwood in your yard. The stems of this particular bush turn bright orange-yellow and then red during the winter months.”

But choosing what you plant in your garden is just as important as where, and how, you plant it. “Always plant the same type of flowers or shrubs in odd-numbered groups to give your garden a more natural feel,” Klein says. “And don’t even think about planting your flowers in rows — nature is not straight. Plant in curving swoops for a natural look.”

Last, but not least, cautions Pattie, don’t forget about garden maintenance. “If you don’t have the time to take care of your new landscape, consider hiring a professional to do it for you,” he says. “Without regular maintenance, even the hardiest species of flowers and shrubs will decline.”

But when all’s said and done, the most important thing to remember, says Klein, is that a garden is never finished. “A garden is a journey,” she says. “You never know what’s going to pop up from year to year. It’s a never-ending job, as well as a continual learning process.”

A fun learning process, that is. And coming from a lady who admits to learning from her past mistakes, that says a lot.

This article was published in the Cleveland Jewish News in 2006.