CHARLESTON, W.Va. - John Hicks was born into a gardening family in Nicholas County. Since moving into his house on Nancy Street about 13 years ago, Hicks has been playing in the dirt, and the results are lovely gardens on all four sides of his home.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - John Hicks was born into a gardening family in Nicholas County.
"We raised huge gardens each year," he said from a comfortable seat on his front porch on Charleston's historic East End.
"We canned together. We had a grape arbor - and there is nothing like homemade grape juice. I grew up in the dirt, loving the dirt."
Since he moved into his house on Nancy Street about 13 years ago, he has been playing in the dirt, and the results are lovely gardens on all four sides of his home.
The gardens look so natural and so appropriate to their locations that people who know little about gardening could assume the gardens were always there. Luckily, Hicks cataloged his progress with many "before" photographs.
When he moved into the two-story brick house, Hicks said he had only a few plants in the yard - the mock orange, lilac, bridal wreath, an azalea and a lone rose. (The rose can be seen by the garage in the "before" photo on page 8F.)
His cousin bought a nearby house with a garden full of plants he didn't want. So Hicks dug them up and transplanted them to the new beds he created around his house.
He also has friends who have given him plants, and friends who help him tend the plants now that he suffers with back problems. "It's been good fun and exciting to have people's participation and support, too. Gardening is about sharing."
Hicks said people often walk by and tell him, "I love your garden."
Before he started his gardens, he eliminated four large hemlocks in front of his house. "I could not wait to get them down and stacked up on the sidewalk," he said.
Friends gave him salvaged bricks that he started working into his front garden. One friend also called him to say he had a load of cut stone.
The huge stones were originally part of an historic property that a family member wanted torn down. They are now in Hicks' back yard.
"I can't believe I did all the work I did. I used to be able to work a full day and then come here and work," he said. But an accident that left him with back injuries has limited his ability to work.
"I'm blessed that I have so many good friends who come here and help me," he said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - John Hicks was born into a gardening family in Nicholas County.
"We raised huge gardens each year," he said from a comfortable seat on his front porch on Charleston's historic East End.
"We canned together. We had a grape arbor - and there is nothing like homemade grape juice. I grew up in the dirt, loving the dirt."
Since he moved into his house on Nancy Street about 13 years ago, he has been playing in the dirt, and the results are lovely gardens on all four sides of his home.
The gardens look so natural and so appropriate to their locations that people who know little about gardening could assume the gardens were always there. Luckily, Hicks cataloged his progress with many "before" photographs.
When he moved into the two-story brick house, Hicks said he had only a few plants in the yard - the mock orange, lilac, bridal wreath, an azalea and a lone rose. (The rose can be seen by the garage in the "before" photo on page 8F.)
His cousin bought a nearby house with a garden full of plants he didn't want. So Hicks dug them up and transplanted them to the new beds he created around his house.
He also has friends who have given him plants, and friends who help him tend the plants now that he suffers with back problems. "It's been good fun and exciting to have people's participation and support, too. Gardening is about sharing."
Hicks said people often walk by and tell him, "I love your garden."
Before he started his gardens, he eliminated four large hemlocks in front of his house. "I could not wait to get them down and stacked up on the sidewalk," he said.
Friends gave him salvaged bricks that he started working into his front garden. One friend also called him to say he had a load of cut stone.
The huge stones were originally part of an historic property that a family member wanted torn down. They are now in Hicks' back yard.
"I can't believe I did all the work I did. I used to be able to work a full day and then come here and work," he said. But an accident that left him with back injuries has limited his ability to work.
"I'm blessed that I have so many good friends who come here and help me," he said.
Hicks has transformed his yard and his home, and transformation has been "contagious," he said.
Several of his neighbors have improved their gardens, too, and Hicks helped one neighbor with a garden design. "This is a wonderful neighborhood," he said. "When you buy a home, you are thinking about what interests you, but you have to think about giving back to the community, too."
In creating his gardens, Hicks used what his father taught him about the visual arts in his professions that include merchandizing and catering.
"He had a great eye. He basically taught me everything I know."
Hicks has no formal training in garden design. "I can see things the way they should be when they are all completed. I'm all about texture and depth."
He added, "I like whimsical stuff, too."
From a former store display, he has big letters that spell out "JOY" that now reside in his back yard.
He wanted to shape his boxwoods like chickens. He shaped one bush but then found the effort too difficult to keep up.
And although there are formal-looking lions on his front porch, they look a little less ferocious at Halloween when they wear masks or at Christmas when they wear Santa hats.
After working for years in his garden, Hicks believes this year "is the most beautiful garden year yet. In the spring it was wonderful, too. I also have thousands of tulips and daffodils here."
In addition to the fragrant oriental lilies, the hostas and ferns he carefully placed around his home, he has also placed seats so there is space for conversation in all his gardens.
"I like to build in peaceful niches all around the garden," he said.
"There is no finer joy than the joy a garden can bring. It's so peaceful here."
Reach Susan Williams at susanwilli...@wvgazette.com or 348-5112.
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