Seeding his garden with whimsy made him a winner
Gary Holloway has spent 42 of his 55 years growing, playing and gardening in the same yard in Hampton, Va.
He’s a self-taught gardener with no formal training, and loves the challenge of turning nothing into something that projects beauty and purpose in the gardens he has created around the 7,500-squarefoot yard. Recently, his creativity won him the city’s 2015 Yard of the Year honor from the Yards Are Really Distinctive Showplace Contest sponsored annually by the Hampton Roads Clean City Commission. “My yard has a very whimsical but yet manicured look,” says Holloway, who lives there with his mother and toy poodle, Daisy. He has been a hair stylist for 27 years.
His whimsy includes his favorite piece, a bright yellow door standing upright in one of the gardens. There’s also a miniature village and ponds for goldfish, turtles and water plants. Fences are lined with fanciful artwork and birdhouses. Several fountains entertain him with the sounds of trickling water. Birdbaths and feeders invite feathered friends into the yard, and landscape lighting extends the yard’s beauty into the night. Many items come from yard and estate sales.
Colorful bottles have been transformed into a bottle tree and bottle peacock. Statuary collections include rabbits, turtles, frogs, gnomes, cats and poodles.
Holloway spends 15 to 20 hours weekly in the garden, mostly weekends. He finds the time peaceful and relaxing and enjoys every aspect of its needs, especially pruning.
“My favorite gardening tool is one that was not necessarily intended for yard work,” he says.
“It’s a pair of heavy scissors that belonged to my grandmother. She used them in her job as a seamstress, working with heavy fabrics such as canvas. I use them to do quite a bit of trimming in the yard.”
Nowadays, peony, gardenia, camellia, arborvitae, forsythia, Knock Out roses, golden euonymus, aucuba, Japanese maple, hydrangea and burning bush are his favorite plants. Seasonal color comes in the form of bulbs such as lilies, gladiola, daffodils, hyacinth, amaryllis and paperwhites, as well as annuals in pots and hanging baskets.