Expansive vegetable garden, plethora of perennials create Iowa City oasis

IOWA CITY - The front yard of Monica and Paul Hoherz's modest ranch home at 724 Wheaton Rd. in Iowa City is deceptive.

With just a few trees and flowers, it gives no clue of the expansive garden oasis that grows just feet away, behind the house.

The garden, which the couple have been developing since 1972, is a lush landscape of vegetables and flowers, sloping down to a flower-lined creek bed at the foot of their property.

It's one of five gardens Iowa City non-profit Project GREEN will feature on a June 20 garden tour.

The yard includes a 30-by-60-foot vegetable plot with kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, peas and more, as well as a smaller, second plot for vegetables such as squash and gourds. Grape vines grow on trellises around the vegetables, and two different kinds of raspberry bushes thrive along the yard's periphery. A cherry tree stands in the corner.

Hostas grow in the shade around trees and next to the house. Irises, day lilies, peonies and other flowers grow in abandon along the fence and creek and throughout the rest of the yard, planned out so a cycle of colors blooms throughout the growing season.

'We always have something blooming here,” Monica says. 'By the time spring comes, I'm anxious to get outside and put things in the ground. I love to get dirt under my nails.”

The garden doesn't benefit just the couple. Monica grows a third garden plot just for Project GREEN, an organization that works on landscaping and beautification projects around Johnson County. The 15-by-25-foot plot produces seedlings Monica donates to Project GREEN's annual plant sale fundraiser.

She also donates hostas and other flowers, which are incorporated into the organization's garden projects around town.

'I like the idea of beautifying Iowa City,” she says. 'I think we all need to do our part.”

When the couple built their house 43 years ago, they started with just a few trees.

'When we moved in, this was a blank lot. Everything you see on this lot is what we planted,” Paul says.

Two rain barrels and an overflow container collect enough water to irrigate the garden. The couple swears by mulch to keep moisture in and weeds out. Over the years, they've settled on twice-ground oak mulch as a favored variety.

Other than that, they offered few tried and true gardening rules.

Monica says she wishes more people realized it doesn't take expertise to make a garden grow. Everything has been a matter of trial and error for the self-taught gardeners.

'I just love the thought that if I put something in the wrong place, next year I can put it in another place,” Monica says. 'I think that's the beauty of Iowa - our soil is so wonderful. We do a lot of experimenting with different plants.”

Monica is the primary gardener, with Paul helping with landscaping projects, weeding and other tasks. Both of them love the time spent outdoors. Monica estimates she spends a couple of hours each evening in the garden throughout the summer, after she gets home from her job as a hairdresser. Paul is retired from a career working for phone companies.

'I enjoy working outside,” Paul says. 'It's therapeutic to go out and prune things and cut the grass.”

All this produce keeps them fed throughout the winter - Monica cans and freezes vegetables, and Paul makes homemade wine from their grapes. 'As long as he's willing to eat vegetables, I'm willing to plant them,” Monica says.

Her advice for new gardeners?

'Don't give up if you like it. There's just so much you can do.”

If you go

What: Project GREEN Garden Tour

When: 3 to 8 p.m. June 20

Cost: $5, 16 and under free

Where: Five gardens - 1201 Wild Prairie Dr., 724 Wheaton Rd. (park on Westgate Street), 1817 Hafor Dr., 1508 Buresh Ave., 1700 Dubuque Rd.

Details: projectgreen.org