11 minute read
The Pros at Home TLC visits the gardens of industry members
ILCA Visits Industry Members at Home Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles that feature the home landscapes of green industry professionals—landscape contractors, plant breeders, nursery owners, public garden staff and educators. After all, who wouldn’t like a little peak at what peers Nina A. Koziol are doing around their own homes?
During their busy season—spring through
summer—Karen and Dan Biernacki often work 75 to 100 hours a week. In spite of those long days, they’ve been known to take their work home.
“The neighbors used to call us the ‘midnight gardeners’ because we’d come home and turn the spotlights on and work in the garden,” Karen said. It’s no surprise because they manage the renowned Ted’s Greenhouse in Tinley Park. And they love plants.
The couple’s stunning home garden in Tinley Park is an incredible collection of tropical plants, succulents, exotic annuals, perennials, ornamental shrubs, specimen trees, a pond and a very productive vegetable garden. But it wasn’t always that way.
“It’s changed so much,” Dan said. “The house had wooden awnings and overgrown junipers.” There was no garden to speak of when they purchased the property in 1992. “The yard was a blank canvas,” Dan added. They saw the potential while house-hunting, however. “Before we were even out of the driveway, we knew we were home,” Karen said.
The house was in Grover Elmore’s 1929 subdivision, which he dubbed the “Poultry Farm Colony. ” Each house was placed on a double-length lot (90’ x 270’) with a huge chicken coop, and homeowners were given 100 chickens. There are about 20 Elmore homes in the area but only three chicken coops remain, including the one Dan renovated behind their home. “The previous owner worked near a scrap yard and I think he brought something home from work every day for 40 years,” Dan said with a groan. “The Coop was completely full and one of the standout memories was the fact that there were over 200 ball peen hammers, and two full pallets of scratch pads, which we still haven’t used up after 28 years.
A Garden Transformation
Tackling the garden began in stages. “I cut out some beds and started putting in perennials,” Dan said. He installed five semi-truck loads of pavers to expand the driveway and removed several evergreens that had seen better days. (continued on page 20)
(continued from page 18)
About 15 years ago, Dan dug the foundation and poured concrete for a large greenhouse that covers their pool and hot tub. When the used greenhouse arrived, pieces were missing and he had to make replacement parts. He excavated soil for the pool and installed bricks over a heated floor so that the space can be used in winter. “I was the maintenance guy at work, maintaining the boiler and other things,” Dan said. “I’m a perfectionist. I only want to do things once. I don’t like just ‘good enough.’”
Karen agrees. “He’s always 10 steps ahead. He’s done everything—the tile, electrical, plumbing—he takes the extra time to set everything up and he works fantastic under pressure. And, I got really good at being a laborer.” A pond and patio are among the newest “hardscape” elements, and lighting added last year created the perfect place for entertaining into the night.
Tropical Paradise
“We had a wedding here for a friend six years ago. It was gorgeous,” Karen said. And it’s no wonder because the plant combinations positively sizzle in this garden. Along the driveway, the iridescent purple leaves of Persian Shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus), mingle with several varieties of coleus, gold-leaved elderberry (Sambucus ‘Morden Golden Glow’), begonias, ‘Bobo’ hydrangea, liatris, coneflowers and many other plants. It’s an eye-popping combination from late spring into autumn.
(continued on page 22)
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“I like color and I like it bright,” Karen said. The big beefy foliage of banana plants and elephant ears is an artful contrast to the finer-leaved duranta, elderberry and trailing vines. Sun-loving ‘Hot Coral’ SunPatiens®, caladium, crossandra, shell ginger and bamboo make the garden feel like a vacation destination. “Karen wants the whole front of the pool house to look tropical,” Dan said.
In shadier spots under the trees, they’ve planted drifts of New Guinea impatiens, hostas, brunnera, heuchera, ferns and sedges. “We try to encourage people to use foliage instead of relying on flowers alone,” Dan said. Japanese maples, redbud, Magnolia ‘Ricki,’ Annabelle hydrangeas, Cornus ‘Golden Showers,’ and sweet gum are some of the smaller ornamental trees and shrubs (continued on page 24)
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(continued from page 22) that create winter interest.
In the past two years, they’ve added a black fence around the yard with a decorative electronic gate across the drive. “We’ve removed the hedges and replaced them with 40 arborvitaes to create more maintenance-free privacy,” Karen said.
Even couples who work in horticulture and garden together must make compromises. “Dan built the retaining wall and I like moss on it, but Dan doesn’t,” Karen said. “All of my bricks had beautiful green moss but he power-washed it off. I think moss is cool and gives it more of that cottage feel, but I have to pick my battles.” Like every garden, things come and go. Pachysandra formed a green blanket under their dwarf fragrant Twisty Baby® black locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Lace Lady’). “It looked beautiful, but got scale,” Dan said. “Don’t plant only one thing.”
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Straggly elm trees along the property line blocked sunlight from the vegetable garden, so Dan removed them. (continued on page 26)
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(continued from page 24) Seed-sowing in the vegetable garden gets a late start on purpose. “I don’t plant it early,” Dan said. “ In 2017, I planted on August first.” Planting late avoids destructive insects that are present in large numbers earlier in summer. Cucumber vines scramble over the U-shaped trellis, which shades lettuce growing below. Irrigation tape is buried one foot down to eliminate watering with a hose. “The plants get watered, but the top of the soil doesn’t get wet,” Dan said.
The edibles get off to a great start. “The soil here is phenomenal. It’s our handmade soil from the greenhouse,” Karen said. She makes cucumber salad from the harvest as well as dehydrating peaches from one of several fruit trees. Dan has been a member of the Cook County Farm Bureau board of directors since 2008.
All in the Family
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Dan was four years old when he started helping his father, Ted, in the commercial greenhouse. When their daughters, Jessica and Becca were toddlers, the Biernacki’s brought them to work. Jessica is an agriculture teacher at Momence High School. “I miss having her at the greenhouse,” Karen said. When she was at home, she loved being outdoors. “I really enjoy working in the garden,” she said. “I get to share my gardening knowledge with my friends.” Becca lives in Orlando, Florida, where she’s a house manager for three Ronald McDonald houses. “She’s the lucky one who gets to keep her tropicals all year unlike us in the midwest,” Karen says.
Sometimes the couple just needs to take a break, but they can’t seem to sit still. Seven years ago, they spent 10 days working as volunteers for the O’Brien School for the Maasai, in Tanzania, Africa. (https://www.obrienschool.org) “Dan and I stayed in the convent. It was one of the best personal experiences we’ve ever had.”
Visit Ted’s Greenhouse, 16930 S. 84th Ave., Tinley Park. https://www.tedsgreenhouse.com (See the rest of the story on page 28)
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(continued from page 26) Insights from the Pros
What’s hot right now?
“Succulents, cacti and tropical plants are popular,” Dan said. “It’s the 1970’s recycled. Look at Pinterest—macrame hangers are back!” Is there an American public garden that everyone should see if they can?
“Dan and I both agree our favorite is Longwood Gardens in Pennsvylvania.” https://longwoodgardens.org
Tell us about one of your big mistakes.
“We had a humungous arborvitae by the front of the house that was overgrown,” Dan said. It was replaced with a ginkgo tree called Jade Butterfly. “Karen wanted the gingko moved just a bit. I was moving it and the trunk snapped right off a few inches from the bottom.” For Karen, the problem was roses. “I’ve had Nearly Wild roses, but the last one was dug out in 2018. Each year they produced fewer flowers.”
Do you have a favorite gardening book?
“The best one is Chuck Voigt’s ‘Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest,’” Dan said. “It’s geared for us.” (The book, written by C. E. Voigt and J. S. Vandemark is out of print but available on amazon.com) How has your gardening/design style evolved through the years?
“We never took days off and we worked seven days a week,” Karen said. That changed when they bought a pontoon boat about four years ago. “Depending on the time of year, I ‘guilt’ him into leaving work and taking a mini-vacation.” The couple now use a landscaping service for the lawn and the planting beds. “I don’t want to come home and work outside,” Dan said. “I want to enjoy it.”
If you could invite one famous gardener (living or dead) to dinner, whom would you choose?
“I would invite Martha Stewart,” Karen said. “I’d invite Pierre du Pont,” Dan said. (Pierre Samuel du Pont was an (continued from page 28)
American entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist who owned Longwood Gardens.) “When I was at Longwood, I was picturing what it would have been like to be there as a guest in its heyday.”
If you were to write a gardening book, what would be your topic?
“I’d write a book where plants relate to a person’s life,” Dan said. “For example, people tell me they water their plants every day, but don’t fertilize them. Try living on water for three months with no food. I’d write a book to help people relate their life experiences to plant care.”
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