Patsy Carlson spent decades crafting a beautiful garden at her Independence Township home. Photos by Serena Stauffer
BY SERENA STAUFFER
Clarkston News Intern Writer
In the mid-1970s, when Patsy and Jim Carlson moved into their “typical subdivision” home, there was only grass, spruces, and pine trees in the yard. Now, over 40 years later, there’s barely a blade of grass, and perennials and woodland plants dominate the landscape.
With absolutely no background in gardening, Patsy created a woodlands oasis in her backyard, simply for the sheer joy of watching it bloom and grow.
Every step, from bringing in the dirt, raising the flower beds, creating paths and choosing the placements for rocks and art pieces, Patsy has done. When it comes to placing the plants and flowers though, she has enjoyed letting nature take its course more often than not.
“The secret to a good garden is letting the plants grow where the plants want to grow,” she said. “I wanted a natural look, and I think I got it. You have to trim sometimes, because you don’t want any dead plants, but the birds bring in a lot of things and I just let them come.”
With so many unique and rare plants that have come through her garden, Patsy shared how it’s impossible to have a favorite. Some current plantings she loves to point out include Bear’s Breeches, Crocosmia, Aphrodite Sweetshrub, Spotty Dotty, Bottlebrush Buckeye and Painter’s Palette, which she said “just glows beautifully” at night.
In addition to all the lush greenery in the garden, Patsy has incorporated her love of art and history by placing many artifacts throughout the landscape as well. While she feels lucky to have each and every piece, some of the highlighted artifacts include the 8-foot-tall original metal cupola from the Pontiac State Hospital, brick pavers from a Toledo road (circa 1900), a piece broken off from a building in Albany, NY, and an original bench from the old Detroit train station.
“I think a good garden is made up of first, plants and where you put the plants and how you put them in your bed,” she said. “And second is the art. You have to have some sort of art, but it doesn’t have to be big or expensive.”
Big and expensive is the opposite kind of atmosphere that the Carlsons’ wanted for their backyard. Since they both appreciate the natural feel of the Upper Peninsula, they aimed at creating a simple sanctuary for wildlife that they could also enjoy relaxing in.
“I wanted it calming, like you’re up for a hike in the woods and you come to an oasis of sorts, where you have a little bit of light, lots of greenery and then you have some water features,” Patsy said.
While Jim has certainly enjoyed the woodlands haven that Patsy has created in their backyard, he shared how he hasn’t put in as much time out in the dirt as Patsy has, and he’s most efficient in terms of identifying what’s a weed and what isn’t a weed.
“Patsy really does a lot of work,” he said. “And it’s interesting to see how it’s grown; it started out with just one bed and then we kept adding on and on. It’s just fun to see what Patsy has done with the yard.”
Patsy, who spends most of her time now simply fine-tuning the landscape, has enjoyed seeing the growth as well; the additions of more benches for people to relax on, more hidden art pieces such as her favorite owls, spots of color amid all the greenery, using dead tree stumps as the bases for more art and even the addition of some traditional house-plants that she simply places in pots throughout the yard.
“I didn’t do this yard to show off, I did this yard for Jim and I to enjoy, and we enjoy every single minute of it,” she said. “This is what you get when you take your time, and you love it. And yeah it’s work, but you can see what comes from it. And I just hope it shows how much I love it.”