A Green Thumb
Gardening
expert Bush to lecture
at Yew Dell Gardens
By
Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer
CRESTWOOD, Ky. (May 2005) – “People are
just beginning to find it,” said gardening expert Gene Bush of
rock gardening. Bush runs his own nursery, Munchkin Nursery and Gardens
LLC, in Depauw, Ind., and has spent the last 14 years cultivating five
acres outside of the town limits.
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Photo provided Gene
Bush will speak in |
Bush finds rock gardening to be hands-on, good exercise
and enjoyable on a physical, spiritual and intellectual level. “You
can do a tremendous amount of gardening in a small space,” he said.
Bush will give a lecture and slide presentation focusing on rock gardening
in Kentucky at 7 p.m. on May 11 at the Commonwealth Bank and Trust,
286 N. Hubbards Lane. This presentation is sponsored by Yew Dell Gardens
of Crestwood. Admission is $10 for members, $15 for non-members.
An accomplished artist, photographer and writer, Bush has penned several
gardening-related articles. His “Garden Clippins’” newsletter
is highly popular and can be accessed through his website. From 1992
to Feb. 1997, Bush produced a highly successful six-page-a-month hard
copy of his newsletter.
Originally from Grayson County, Ky., Bush averages two presentations
a month, in addition to managing his nursery. He moved to southern Indiana
in 1967 and first tried his hand at vegetable gardening. Munchkin Nursery
came about quite by accident.
Bush had been cutting grass on a hillside with a tractor when he lost
control. Had it not been for a cedar stump, he would have gone over
a small cliff. He decided then to plant the hillside in shrubs and trees
so he would never have to mow it again.
While going through the process of choosing the right plants, he became
addicted to the colorful pictures of blooming shrubs and perennials.
Thus, the idea for Munchkin Nursery was born. Bush is well known for
his work with shade perennials and wildflowers, and is a longtime member
of the North American Rock Garden Society.
The slides Bush will show were taken at his gardens and will showcase
rock gardening from construction to enjoyment. Rock gardens can be adorned
with a variety of miniature to dwarf plants that do not exceed one and
a half feet in height. He suggests that miniature evergreens, miniature
native plants and plants native to Europe and Asia are what grow best
in this area.
Bush was asked by the staff at Yew Dell to view a sunken rock garden,
one of the first gardening projects completed on the property of the
late Theodore Klein. Klein, an Oldham County nurseryman and plant expert,
used Louisville limestone in his garden. “It is a good representation
of Theodore’s early work in the county,” said Leslie Buddeke,
Yew Dell Gardens’ director of development and marketing .
The rock garden has since become overgrown from not having been maintained
as it should have been. Volunteers will begin from scratch, adding new
soil and plants to the area to restore it to its original state. Bush
said he is interested in the project, but does not know how involved
he will become, since he lives an hour away from Yew Dell gardens.
Buddeke said members of the Green Thumbs Garden Club and the Oldham
County Master Gardeners Association would volunteer their time and services
to complete this project. Tillie Monem is a member of both groups and
said, “Both clubs have jointly adopted the gardens.” Rehabilitation
work that must be accomplished in the sunken rock garden includes the
removal of clay-like soil from among the rocks and the replacement of
plant material. Volunteers are working every Wednesday until the job
is complete, she said.
Monem said she found this rock garden unique because Kentucky doesn’t
have many of them. Klein constructed the garden “in an effort to
show people what can be done with a rock garden,” said Monem. Kentucky
doesn’t have a recognized national rock garden for public viewing,
she said.
Gardens of this type in the Kentuckiana area still “need to be
discovered,” said Bush. Rock gardens are out there, but more public
awareness is needed to get the word out.
Everything comes into fashion, wanes, and comes into fashion again,
said Bush. The same rule holds true with gardening, he said. Bush views
gardening as a fun way to meet others who “speak a common language.”
• For more information contact Buddeke at (502) 241-4788 or leslieb@yewdellgardens.org, or visit Bush’s website at: www.munchkinnursery.com.