JUNE YARD OF THE MONTH
Native plants adorn the yard at 3928 Linden Ave.
Allyson and Noel Chesmer have been tending their yard at 3928 Linden Ave. ever since they moved there in 2007. It’s gone through several configurations with the latest being native.
After inheriting many native plants from their brother-in-law, a landscape architect who moved to Silver City, the Chesmers headed to Whiz-Q Stone to buy some large decorative rocks. That was the easy part. It took them more than a week to decide where to put the rocks. Then, the diehard do-it-yourselfers started planting.
Allyson made the call to put many of the plants between the sidewalk and the street. “Most people put the plants up by the house, but I wanted to be able to look out my window and see everything,” she explains. Plus, the plants provide some privacy.
Rudbeckia gloriosa daisies and black-eyed Susans spill over the front curb, along with stands of spineless prickly pear cactus. Russian sage, skullcap and yarrow hug the pergola over the front sidewalk. Three plants of Texas bluebonnets propagated this spring into fifteen plants and almost took over their bed.
On the west side of the yard, the standing cypress with its dramatic tall spires of red flowers doubled in size in less than a year.
By the front porch is a well-established crepe myrtle and 20-year-old honeysuckle. Red yuccas are beneath the front window. The thick zoysia grass was put in six years ago. Next to the driveway is a funky orange metal cylinder with “Chesmer Farms” written on it. Noel explains it’s an irrigation engine radiator, a remnant from his family’s Panhandle wheat farm.
The vitex on the west side of the yard was rescued in 2022 from a construction site near the Purina Mill on E. 1st St. The Chesmers saw it laying on the ground, left for dead, where a building had been demolished. Noel got permission from the property owner to retrieve it and, farm boy that he is, he rented a front end loader from Taylor’s and brought it home to surprise Allyson. Obviously, the vitex survived the transplant and is now thriving on Linden Avenue.
The yard is Allyson’s happy place. When she gets home from working at a local bank, she heads out to tend to the yard to de-compress. As impressive as their front yard is, their backyard is equally stunning with a waterfall, koi pond and an outdoor pizza oven.
The Chesmers received a $25 gift certificate to Archie’s Gardenland and a year’s membership in Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association, courtesy of AHNA.
If you see an award-worthy yard, even your own, please let us know by sending the address to president@arlingtonheightsna.com.
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