July 7 Column: Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour
One of the most enjoyable things a gardener can do during the summer months is go on garden tours. It’s a great way to get inspired, learn new things and meet other like-minded folks. Next Sunday, July 14, the Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour will take place. That’s the topic of my garden column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: For North Idaho gardeners featured in tour, inspiration comes from above. (or you can read my column lower in this post)
For this article, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ellen and Ernest Grabbe, who have a lovely garden in Post Falls. They live on five acres and you would not believe how much they’ve accomplished in just a year and a half!
Ellen loves choosing plants and designing the garden. Ernest is a huge help with many aspects of the garden and has built many wonderful birdhouses, since they love attracting birds.
This week’s video is the 2nd tour of my vegetable garden this season. Enjoy!
Here are more photos from the Grabbes’ garden:
Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour column:
By Susan Mulvihill
Garden-lovers, take note: the highly-anticipated Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour is set for next Sunday [July 14] from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
It will feature five outstanding private gardens, with two in Post Falls and three in Coeur d’Alene. This year’s theme is “plant happiness.”
Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour previewed garden: Ellen and Ernest Grabbe
Ellen and Ernest Grabbe have done a fine job of selecting pleasing plant combinations to create their lovely garden in Post Falls. They are a hardworking team who have gotten the job done in a surprisingly short amount of time.
“We bought our house in 2016,” Ellen Grabbe explained. “Some medical issues sidelined us for a couple of years so we’ve only worked on the landscape for about a year and a half.”
Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour: How the Grabbe garden came about
The property is five acres in size. When the Grabbes moved in, the landscaping consisted of about 60 shrubs — most of which they removed since they weren’t thriving — and some large conifers. Ellen admits she didn’t have a plan, instead relying on “ideas that have popped into my head.”
They soon planted peonies, a wisteria vine, hydrangeas and perennials that were growing beautifully during a recent visit.
“I’ve never gardened before but I have green fingers,” Ellen Grabbe admitted. “I really don’t know what I’m doing and I certainly wasn’t expecting everything to grow so big so fast.”
The soil is their biggest challenge because it is essentially solid rock. The solution? Create raised planting beds with landscape blocks and fill them with a combination of topsoil and compost. She particularly appreciates the raised beds since she doesn’t have to bend to tend the flowers.
A shady area of the garden is filled with hostas, bleeding hearts and peonies. There is a beautiful purple clematis vine climbing over a trellis. Foxgloves, daylilies, bachelor’s buttons, evening primroses, Oriental poppies, hollyhocks, coneflowers and Shasta daisies dot the garden with bright splashes of color. An attractive koi pond, complete with a splashing waterfall, provides a focal point.
Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour: How the Grabbes divide the labor
Ernest Grabbe has been invaluable by helping dig planting holes, building birdhouses, designing the pond, and adding structures such as gates and gazebos.
“We do work together but I crack the whip,” Ellen Grabbe said jokingly. “I tell him, ‘if it’s still daylight, you don’t get to quit.’ But I have to admit he always knows when I could use some help.”
Ernest Grabbe uses his drone to photograph their landscape from an aerial perspective. His wife pencils her landscape ideas on the photos and they go from there.
One of the projects currently in progress is a large garden shed that every visitor will envy. It will be used for starting plants from seed and for overwintering tender plants.
There are many sitting areas located throughout the garden, all of which Ellen Grabbe visits on a daily basis. She carries a sketchbook to draw out ideas.
“I think visitors will especially enjoy these sitting areas because they can contemplate each section of the garden and delight in the peacefulness of it,” she said.
Here are the locations of all of the tour gardens:
- Ellen and Ernest Grabbe, 2161 N. Reiswig Rd., Post Falls
- Stacey and Tim Mann, 201 E. 6th Ave., Post Falls
- Dani and Zach Betts, 854 Government Way, Coeur d’Alene
- Becky Collet, 2708 N. 6th St., Coeur d’Alene
- Stephanie and Bill Harper, 1153 Brooklyn Ave., Coeur d’Alene
There will be an “artisan/vendor alley” set up at the Grabbe garden and musicians at each of the gardens. Proceeds from the tour will benefit local charities and North Idaho College scholarships.
Coeur d’Alene Garden Tour details:
When: Sunday [July 14] from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Details: Tickets: $15 when purchased in advance at the locations below or online from Brown Paper Tickets at brownpapertickets.com/event/4223748. Tickets can be purchased for $20 on the day of the tour at Van Hoff’s Garden Center, Ace Hardware in Coeur d’Alene or at any of the tour gardens.
- Ace Hardware, 4th and Harrison, Coeur d’Alene (208) 667-9466
- Aspen Nursery, 6075 E. Commerce Loop, Post Falls (208) 667-7511
- Greenacres Nursery, 18605 E. Appleway Ave., Greenacres (509) 928-1922
- Haase’s Greenhouse, 3409 E. 34th Ave., Spokane (509) 534-7095
- Mix It Up Gifts, 513 Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene (208) 667-8603
- New Leaf Nursery, 12655 N. Government Way, Hayden (208) 762-4825
- Northland Nursery, 8093 W. Prairie Ave., Post Falls (208) 773-3247
- Northwest Seed & Pet, 2422 E. Sprague Ave., Spokane (509) 534-0694
- Northwest Seed & Pet, 7302 N. Division, Spokane (509) 484-7387
- Vanhoff’s Garden Center, 1844 N. Government Way, Coeur d’Alene (208) 930-4424
- Westwood Gardens Nursery, 15825 N. Westwood Dr., Rathdrum (208) 687-5952
For more information, go to www.cdagardenclub.com or call (208) 664-0987. On tour day, call (208) 661-0773.