The gate and short garden fence at the street “is our personal folly,” say Peg Wahl.
On a visit to Dan and Peg Wahl’s home in Midtown, the trees capture one’s eye first. Holding court on their corner lot is a fantastic magnolia so enormous, its lofty understory creates a magic treehouse of sorts, perfect for climbing or daydreaming. Its nearby companion is a tulip poplar, with limbs that stretch graciously over the yard, reaching out towards its lifelong companion. The two have weathered countless seasons together, proving strong and resilient. And like those trees, this story is about companionship and teamwork and what it means to grow together.
When the Wahls were preparing for their fourth appearance on the Experience Memphis Gardens tour back in April, Peg drafted a detailed to-do list. She itemized the tasks they would need to complete before welcoming visitors. “I thought that list would have maybe 45 items,” says Peg. “But it turned out to be 145. What’s more, Dan probably did 140 of those jobs while I did five.”
Yet both will tell you the garden would be far less accomplished without the other. Peg is the idea person, the one who considers the new plant that might add interest or color to a bed. Dan is the tender, the one who provides muscle and heft to each project. “His father was a mechanic on a ship during WWII, so he taught Dan how to fix and maintain things. He takes great pride in his job. Dan’s workmanship is excellent,” Peg notes with pride.
Crafting a Vision
During their 27 years here, the Wahls were initially too busy with careers in property management and family life to do much outdoors. But in 2014, with retirement coming into view and their three children grown, the couple decided the time had come to start a new chapter.
Dan and Peg Wahl
They began by renovating the front of the house and sizing up the front porch. Their architect, Charles Shipp, recommended extending its length by abolishing the square, brick landing to create a rectangular one paved in a handsome, denim-washed bluestone. They super-sized other features, too, adding New Orleans-style gas lanterns on either side of the front door and wide plantation shutters at the windows. At the base of the landing, two elegant concrete urns soon overflowed with three-foot-wide macho ferns.
The changes transformed the porch from bland to grand.
Their landscape architect and designer, Jackie Distretti, had another idea. To draw the visitor’s eye to the home’s front entry, she suggested building a short garden fence and gate at the street. “It’s our personal folly,” says Peg with a laugh. She’s referring to the clever, Victorian-era structures that British estate owners added to create pleasing views. “But neighbors have teased us about whether our fence man actually just ditched the job!” says Peg.
Perhaps they simply lack vision, for the results are both playful and welcoming.
Distrelli, also a master gardener, spent several days in their yard simply observing the light before putting pen to paper and drawing up a garden plan. She considered what the couple would see from inside their home when looking out, as well as how the plantings would appear from the street. Her thoughtfulness has paid off: From one living room window is a view of the garden gate, another features a weeping Japanese maple and the magnolia, and from the dining room, a handsome fountain.
“It’s all about bringing the outdoors in,” says Peg, who’s drawn inspiration from the work of Arkansas gardener P. Allen Smith. He created Moss Mountain Farm outside of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Before planting, Distretti helped them assess the beds around the yard. “There were foundation plants that had been here for 50-plus years,” says Dan, since their house was built in 1956. A few were worth saving, most notably the beds that held mophead hydrangeas and George Tabor azaleas that still bloom bountifully each spring. The couple later trimmed the beds with autumn-red day lilies from George Touliatos’ nursery and ruffled day lilies the color of lemon drops.
Next, Distretti advised removing invasive species like the hedge of privet that ran behind the house. Dan dug up struggling boxwoods, too, and bushels of messy monkey grass. Now, Nellie Stevens hollies create a dense evergreen curtain along the backyard that the birds love, and nearby, peonies, blackberry lilies, and elephant ears bloom.
Like any garden, what they look out on now is a creation that continues to evolve.
“About half of what is in the yard today is not in its original place,” says Dan. “Some plants have been moved two or three times.” However, adds Peg, “I give Distretti a lot of credit for the foundation plantings that truly did become the foundation for the yard.”
While the Wahls use a lawn service for mowing and edging, they tend the garden themselves. During the first decade, it was something of a trial-and-error affair. But working as a team, they laughed and learned together. “We both love nurseries,” Peg says, as Dan nods in agreement. “We’ll go to one anytime, any place.”
Dan also came to appreciate the importance of trimming heavily and fertilizing often. His go-tos are Triple 13, a helpful, one-size-fits-all fertilizer in the spring and Holly-tone and Plant-tone, organic plant foods made by Espoma that he uses generously during the summer months.
“Feeding throughout the summer is so important because you’re preparing the plants for the following year,” he says. Regular watering is also key. And to prevent pests from being transferred from one plant to another, Dan rubs down his pruning shears with Lysol after each use.
An English Garden
The couple’s most rewarding project was creating their English ornamental garden on the east side of the house. Two rows of coral bark Japanese maples create an allée that arches gracefully over the gravel walk with a parterre divided into four quarters, each planted with a variety of flowering shrubs that include limelight and Annabelle hydrangeas, oversized hardy begonias, boxwoods, and hostas. There’s even a sunny seating area where Peg grows colorful annuals.
Although an HVAC unit is housed here too, it’s artfully concealed beneath a metal cage, a fix suggested by Brett Norman at Urban Earth (their staff also built it). A tangerine beauty crossvine trails up the cage’s checkerboard pattern, where it blooms each spring and produces a lacy veil of green all summer. Along the fence line, an Oakland holly hedge flourishes. They chose to gate this space so that Presley, their handsome Welsh terrier, could romp unsupervised. “I joke that this might be the fanciest dog run in the world,” says Peg. “She loves playing there.”
When visitors walk from here into the backyard, they enter another enchanting room featuring a beautiful brick patio, a place the couple can relax with morning coffee or an afternoon cocktail. Since the yard is anchored by another sizable magnolia, it stays shady during the heat of the day, providing the dappled sunlight azaleas, hostas, and Japanese maples love. An adjacent screened porch means the view can be enjoyed year-round while listening to the gurgle of the fountain just beyond the patio, one of Peg’s favorite features.
Each spring, the couple invites the neighborhood in for the annual Easter egg hunt, when some 500 eggs are hidden for eager children to find. As a result, “I find eggs throughout the summer,” says Peg. “It’s wonderful.”
Most recently, Dan has become smitten with orchids. “Whenever Urban Earth marks their orchids down to $5, I dash over and buy them up,” he says, proudly pointing to his growing horde at the base of the patio, where their pots are hung like ornaments on a tree. He’s still learning about these tropicals and hopes they’ll flourish outdoors during the humid months of summer.
Together, the yard has become a gracious extension of the couple’s home. It’s the perfect place for Peg and Dan to relax, entertain, and most importantly, enjoy each other’s company.
