CdA tour offers glimpse of six incredible spaces
On their one-acre property, they have a large vegetable garden, fruit trees, colorful flower beds, a water feature and a shade garden – all within a peaceful, parklike setting.
Next Sunday, you will have the opportunity to tour their garden, located at 7535 Mt. Carroll St., and five others during the Coeur d’Alene Garden Club’s 14th annual garden tour.
Both of the Nobles grew up helping with family gardens, so they’ve had gardening in their blood from an early age.
“Ron is the chief gardener now due to my physical limitations,” Bev explains, “but I do enjoy planting flowers in containers. I love the beauty of gardening, it’s very rewarding.”
Their attractive vegetable garden is surrounded by a deer fence.
“I get more comments about the fence because everyone deals with deer around here,” Ron says.
The entrance to the garden is framed by climbing roses. Some of the vegetables the couple are growing include lettuce, buttercup squash, tomatoes, beans, peppers, eggplants, peas, cucumbers, potatoes and corn.
“We eat like kings and queens when the garden comes on,” Ron says.
In addition to growing apples, pears and prunes, they also have blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.
“You just can’t beat the taste of homegrown berries,” he says.
One of the reasons their garden grows so successfully is a three-bin composting system. Ron feels it’s not as efficient as it could be since the bins are quite large, which makes it hard to turn over the materials, but it is clear from their healthy plants that the soil is very fertile.
Some of the stunning perennials in bloom include Bearded and Siberian irises, gas plants (Dictamnus albus), peonies, coral bells and salvia.
The Nobles’ biggest challenges are dealing with deer and squirrels.
“We thought they were so cute at first,” Bev says, “but they sure cause a lot of damage to the garden.”
When it comes to landscaping their yard, she readily admits that the design process has mostly involved trial and error.
“I didn’t have a plan at first,” she says. “You just learn what looks good together, although that means Ron has had to move many plants over the years for me.”
The Nobles feel visitors will find most everything in their garden to be of interest. “There’s something for everyone here,” Bev says.