People will be opening their doors to friends and strangers alike during Euclid’s renowned Pond and Garden Tour July 18-20.
Three different times are offered for the self-guided tour. Friday is the Twilight Tour from 8:30-10:30 p.m.; with Saturday and Sunday tours from 1-6 p.m.
The annual residential Pond and Garden Tour, which started in 2009, opens up the backyard gates of 26 houses in the city, giving a glimpse into what is normally private property.
Each garden is different and tells its own story, some large lake houses feature multi-storied flower beds with strict planning and pruning, others have water features and vegetable gardens with a relaxed feel.
John Thesing stands in his back garden. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald)
John Thesing points out one of his Bonsai plants. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald)
John and MaryAnn Thesing regularly participate in the tour and designed their garden with different Japanese maples, potted bonsais, and dwarf conifers, so that no matter the season they have something nice to look at.
When they moved to their house in 2005, the backyard had flooding issues and didn’t have much besides grass and a few plants. They weren’t satisfied, so they started buying different plants at different supply stores, and it wasn’t long before they caught the gardening bug.
“There was a blue spruce with a bunch of ivy in the front, back here, there was a row of privets and there were like, some hollyhocks and a few things planted,” John said. “This whole area where the patio is used to flood all the time and it was grass. It was pretty much a blank slate.
“So, when I moved in I think my motivation was my grandfather, and I thought, we have got to do something with this place, because his yard was always immaculate and really well-landscaped.”
“It was a progression,” John continued. “The first year, we bought a lot of annuals and then winter came, and it was a barren wasteland, and I thought ‘boy, that was a lot of money down the drain’ maybe we should get some things that come back every year.
“We went to garden centers and then would buy things that caught our attention that were in bloom, and we quickly realized that wasn’t the way to go, because the flowering period is only a week or two and otherwise you’re left with a big green shrub or perennial, not much interest- so what first sparked it was we got our first Coral Bark Japanese Maple.”
“So that kind of sparked interest in the four-season garden, so we would have interest during the growing season but then the conifers would really shine in the wintertime,” John said. “And then MaryAnn became an expert in perennials, so we started to incorporate a lot of dwarf perennials and unusual perennials, ground cover and grasses.”
John Thesing shows where he started digging out a tree from his family property in Michigan to bring home and turn into a Bonsai. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald)
Different Bonsai trees are pictured in the backyard of John and MaryAnn Thesing in Euclid. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald)
They soon discovered the concept of Japanese gardening which emphasizes flow, color, texture and user experience, over strict planting guidelines.
“My upbringing was more that you plant in threes and have a lot of the same things, and we started to get more involved in the idea of creating movement and having a journey through the garden.” John said.
John and MaryAnn both worked in aviation but have since retired. Before John became disabled, he worked as a private flight instructor and MaryAnn worked as a flight attendant which didn’t leave them with much time to take care of the garden.
While originally the garden was designed to fit their busy lifestyle, now, it fits a lifestyle that they have both had to adapt to — something they hope others can learn from if they start dealing with mobility issues.
“We kind of focused on low-maintenance plants,” MaryAnn said. “Nothing is ever no-maintenance, right, like nothing, but I feel that people that have perennial gardens have way more work than what we have.
“I spend two, maybe three days a year pruning now that things are getting bigger but that’s it.”
Different maples and conifers are seen in the backyard of John and MaryAnn Thesing in Euclid. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald)
The change in approach to gardening has also made their front and back yards more ecologically diverse. The different trees, plants and water features attract migrating birds and other wildlife which, they said, brightens up their mood in both winter and summer.
“Now we have all types of birds that come to the yard; we have migrating birds in the spring and fall,” John said. “The Japanese maples bring out a lot of color in the spring, but they also have a grand finale of color in the fall so we feel more connected with the seasons.”
“And there is structure in the wintertime; it holds the snow, it’s very picturesque,” MaryAnn said. “We always say this, thank god we did a lot of this before he became disabled, because at least he had that to look at. If you notice, most people plant against their house, they don’t expand. You never really see it unless you are coming or going, or working out there, and you’ve invested money in something that you don’t see on the regular.
“So, having that, for him to be able to see it and engage, he feeds the birds, there are all these things that he is now engaged with because we did when we did.”
In-ground gardening isn’t the only thing that the Thesings dabble in, as they have taken up the art of bonsai tree growing — recently loaning 12 of their over 50 trees to the Cleveland Botanical Garden for their 50th anniversary Japanese Garden which will be open until September.
John and MaryAnn Thesing stand in their front driveway. Their house is part of the upcoming Euclid Pond and Garden Tour. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald)
“A lot of what I learned in the garden, the pruning techniques, apply to bonsai, so it was a transition but there was a good foundation there,” John said. “I always had an interest, but life was fast back then, and I didn’t have the time to do it, and then suddenly my life completely changed and now I’m in the slow lane, so it opened up opportunities like that to do bonsai.
“In the beginning, when it was hard to just do things like get out of bed, it was the thing that got me up because it’s like ‘I have to water the bonsai, I can’t let them die,’ so it was good for my health. Even just getting into the meditative state and taking your mind off of where you are at, your pain. Setting up a bonsai up on a turn table and spinning it, contemplating pruning decisions, you kind of get into a flow state of where the whole world around you just doesn’t matter because you are so in the moment.”
They said that being part of the Pond and Garden Tour has been a good way to share what they have to offer and learn from others at the same time.
They have been part of the tour since 2007, and since then, have made friends along the way, even joining other garden clubs from those connections.
“It engages people for sure. We have a couple ladies who will skip a year and come back and be surprised. We really do want to instill a love of gardening and an appreciation for it, because lets face it, these days, things are too negative and this is a highlight — it’s a positive so we appreciate that,” MaryAnn said.
The grassless front yard of John and MaryAnn Thesing can be seen during this year’s Pond and Garden Tour in Euclid. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald)
“We like to encourage people because we started off not really knowing much, so anyone can do this,” John added. “Instead of acting like we are garden know-it-alls… and also, just talking to other people, not only does it give us an opportunity to educate people, but there’s people with all kinds of different backgrounds and experiences, it’s an opportunity for us to learn to. It’s a give and take.”
Tickets for the tour can be purchased online for $10 at www.cityofeuclid.com, once a ticket is purchased, a map will be provided and ticket-holders can visit during any of the tour times.