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Crystals, geodes and other stones decorate property that will be among seven open to visitors next week
By Mary Beth Breckenridge
Beacon Journal
Published on Saturday, Jun 14, 2008
This garden rocks.
Sandy and Jim Dunn's 11/3-acre lot in Twinsburg is dotted with rock gardens with a twist: Instead of common stones, they're filled with crystals, geodes and other natural curiosities the two have collected in their travels.
Holey rocks, a type of limestone resembling sponges that they brought back from Missouri, are tucked under a Chinese maple. Quartz crystals called Herkimer diamonds, dug by Jim Dunn in Herkimer, N.Y., decorate a backyard bed, along with drusy quartz covered in crystals so fine they resemble fuzz. Along the side of the house, hostas are interspersed with groupings of geodes and flint, all of which Sandy Dunn had to move this year so she could clear the bed of weeds.
''Then all the whirlybirds came and filled it all back up,'' she said wryly of the maple seeds that have been her nemesis this season.
The Dunns' garden will be open to visitors next Saturday during the fifth Twinsburg Garden Tour. Seven gardens are featured on the tour, ranging in style from a small condo backyard teeming with flowers to a woodland setting enhanced by the homeowners.
Sandy Dunn admitted she was surprised to be asked to be in such talented company. In fact, the Dunns claim to have little interest in gardening.
''We just find stuff and stick it in the ground,'' Jim Dunn said.
Pond is 'money pit'
What they do love is water, which is why their backyard is dominated by an approximately 20-by-30-foot pond that Sandy Dunn gamely referred to as ''the money pit.''
The water garden started when a neighbor dug the hole eight years ago, and Jim Dunn insists it still isn't finished. Two years ago, he created the waterfall that tumbles down rocks and splashes into the water.
''He was going to make it like a trickle,'' his wife recalled. ''I said, 'I didn't wait eight years for a trickle.' ''
The pond, filled with koi and goldfish and surrounded by towering evergreens, is on a plateau Jim Dunn created by regrading the sloped yard. Garden ornaments, many of them angels, accent the blue flagstone patio and the plantings surrounding the pond.
Sandy Dunn explained that the angel imagery, the water and the crystals all are representative of the energy that fills what the couple calls ''God's Acre.'' She said all support her efforts as a healer who facilitates a meditation group.
The Dunns' garden is a happy place, filled with garage-sale finds and quirky treasures such as rubber snakes coiled in the crannies of a rock wall and colorful bowling balls perched on pedestals to resemble gazing globes.
Garden overflowing
And despite their protestations about their gardening prowess, the garden is abundant with growth. A vigorous wisteria sprouts from among the bricks in a patio behind the house. A drift of sweet woodruff, started from a single 4-inch pot from a flea market, covers part of a bed that edges the driveway. A trumpet vine has practically swallowed a lamp post in the front yard, looking more like a tree than a vine.
Scattered about are the Dunns' rocks — barite and silvery hematite and a huge slab of quartz about 3 feet across that serves as a backdrop for allium, columbine and phlox. Some of the rocks were dug from mines; some were collected with permission from people's yards.
The Dunns, who picked up their rock-collecting hobby from Sandy Dunn's parents, used to take a pickup truck on vacation and fill it with rocks. But they haven't done that in eight years.
''We don't need any more stuff,'' she said.
HOME, GARDEN TOURS OVERFLOW
The Twinsburg Garden Tour is one of several home and garden tours in our area this month. Here are the details:
Green With Envy garden tour, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, starting at Angel Falls Coffee Co., 792 W. market St., Akron. Self-guided tour of eight city gardens, sponsored by the West Hill neighborhood Organization. $12. Handicap accessibility is limited. Proceeds support the organization's community-involvement and neighborhood-advocacy efforts.
Historic Home and Garden Tour, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, starting at Fellowship hall, 3909 Broadview Road, Richfield. Three homes open for tours, along with Richfield Historical Society and several businesses. $12.
Home & Garden Tour, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through next Saturday, Hudson. Presented by the Hudson Garden Club. Tickets: $15 in advance at the Learned Owl Book Shop, 204 N. Main S.t, and Acme, 116 W. Streetsboro Road, or $20 on tour days at the ticket booth on the Village Green and after noon at the Garden Shop in the Hudson Middle School, 77 N. Oviatt St. Proceeds fund tree planting in Hudson, scholarships, grants and community gardening projects. Information: http://www.hudsongardenclub.org
Twinsburg Garden Tour, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Saturday. Seven gardens, presented by the Twinsburg Garden Club. Tickets, $7, available in advance at Richner Hardware, 9797 Ravenna Road (adjacent to the square), and noon to 4 p.m. today at the Twinsburg Giant Eagle, 8960 Darrow Road. Tickets available on tour day at the gardens. Rain date, June 22. Proceeds benefit the club's scholarship fund and other local charities. Information: 330-425-7166 or http://www.twinsburg-garden-club.com
Beyond the Fences of Zoar garden tour, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 25, Zoar Village, Tuscarawas County. Tour of eight private and three public gardens and daylong series of gardening seminars, sponsored by the Zoar Community Association. Tickets: tour only, $15; tour and lunch at Zoar Tavern, $30. Reservations required for tour and lunch option at 330-874-2646. Tour-only tickets may be purchased in advance and will be available the morning of the tour at a booth in the South parking lot and in the afternoon at the Town Hall Museum. Information: http://www.zca.org.
Mary Beth Breckenridge is the Beacon Journal home writer. She can be reached at 330-996-3756, or at mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com via e-mail.
This garden rocks.
Get the full article here.
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