local roots: Neighborhood gardeners share bond

Nancy Draper / guest columnist

Except for the sound of birds chirping, Georga and Jim Prossick’s 1-acre property on a dead-end road along Clark’s Creek is a wonderful, quiet retreat.

“This is such a great neighborhood — everyone has an acre of property, we all know each other, and we all love to garden,” Georga explained.

Though she grew up on a cattle ranch in California, Georga, Jim and their two daughters moved here 12 years ago from Wisconsin. They both realized right away how much they would enjoy this climate and wanted to create a yard to take advantage of their property’s many attributes during the summer months. Not only do they have a seating area on the back lawn where they can enjoy the many sights and sounds of the creek, they love spending time on their stone patio. In the summer it’s a nightly ritual for the Prossicks to sit around their fire pit making s’mores.

Georga has always loved to garden.

“My mother was an avid gardener, and my sister is a landscaper, so it’s in my blood. My 21- year-old daughter has been bitten by the gardening bug too — she just loves it, and I’m really glad.”

The creek presents an annual challenge because during the rainy winter months the water level rises up over half of their property. Early on, the Prossicks created a berm, planting it with shrubs and perennials, to act as a barrier, keeping the water from coming any nearer to the house. During the second year in their home, Georga learned from a neighbor that Corkscrew Willows love to stand in water, and at the same time they provide needed shade for the creek’s fish. Georga and Jim took cuttings from one willow to grow several trees, which now dot the creek’s edge, each standing 12 feet high.

“The beavers love Corkscrews, so we have had to put caging around the trunks to protect the trees, and that works just fine,” Georga said.

It is believed the Prossicks’ house was originally a berry shed at the turn of the last century. With the additions Jim and Georga have made, the house has been through seven renovations. The original barn serves as Georga’s gardening shed, and is surrounded by perennial beds and pieces of garden art. A wagon seat from the California ranch acts as a bench on her porch and is a wonderful reminder of her family home.

All along the front side of the house, Georga has planted perennials, predominantly in yellow, her favorite color. She used Stella D’Oro day lilies, coreopsis, and Lady Banks roses.

“Perennial gardens are wonderful, and require much less water. I’m a casual, country gardener. Most of my garden re-seeds itself.”

Georga loves that her yard is a blanket of yellow in the spring and throughout the summer.

Nancy Draper can be reached by e-mail at nancydgardens@yahoo.com.