– Gardening: The hanging gardens of Chestnut Hill – Chestnut Hill Local

Valerie and the great hanging garden of Chestnut Hill.

By Stan Cutler

According to legend, the king ofBabylon constructed a high-rise, irrigated garden to please his wife. She was aMedean (Persian) princess who missed the greenery of her hometown when she wasforced to move to her new husbands arid city between the Tigris and Euphrates.Archaeologists havent been able to find the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one ofthe Seven Wonders of the ancient world, reportedly built around 600 BCE.

Earthquakes, wars and naturalerosion may have obliterated the clay brick walls. The layout was described byGreek and Hebrew historians as three, four or five (descriptions vary) sets ofwalls, each smaller than the one below. There were trees and decorative gardensinside each enclosure. Hand-turned irrigation pumps pulled water from theEuphrates to a holding pond at the top. The edifice was covered with thegreenery of vining species that sent runners down the walls and by attachedcontainer plants. The effect was spectacular a green mountain rising in thesere landscape.

My wife, Valerie, is not aprincess. She is a retired art teacher from Michigan and an avid gardener. I amnot a king. I am an ex-this-and-that from southwest Philly who providesgardening assistance when called upon. Valerie hangs plants on two low chainlink fences that separate our narrow backyard from our friendly neighbors oneither side. Our neighbors are also gardeners, convivially sharing opinions,encouragement, cuttings, tools and advice. Good fences do make for goodneighbors.

We live in a twin house on HighlandAvenue. Lori lives in the house next door; Beth lives on the other side of theparty wall between our houses. In fair weather, all three of them are out theredoing their things. Their neighbors, two doors away from us on either side, arealso friendly gardeners. There are days when all five households are out back,calling to each other, extolling the wonders of their plants or cursing theweeds. There are gardeners up and down the block on both sides of the street.This is the heart of Chestnut Hills renowned Garden District. Our lots arejust big enough for experimentation, small enough to be manageable. People maynot be gardeners when they move in, but most become enthusiasts soon afterward.

Chain link is the ideal fencing forgardeners. Solid wood fences block sun and air. The metal chain link fenceposts are sunk in cement, sturdy enough to support trellises, bird feeders,netting and contraptions of all sorts. For example, we clamped 2X4s verticallyto several posts, screwed brackets into the tops, and attached eight-foot pipesto the brackets. In springtime, when Valerie brings the houseplants outside,she hangs dozens of them on the pipes.

Lori, as crazy as Valerie, has amagnificent garden. The pair of them collaborate on straw baskets hung from thetop of the fence near the houses, a shaded area. They go to nurseries, togetherand separately, and choose annuals to put in the baskets. This year, Lori hadgreat success with tuberous begonias.These are finicky plants that grow from tubers, thus the name. They do betterin containers than in the ground. Its difficult to get them to bloom becausethey dont do well in direct sun, chill, wind or poorly drained soil. But, ifyou give them proper conditions, their flowers are amazingly vibrant reds oryellows that look like luscious, thick-petaled roses. (I used to misspell themin my head as tube rose, wondering where the tubes were.)

Valeries pride and joy are herorchids, which spend winters in her 7 X 12-foot greenhouse. She never, everallows one of her orchid pots to touch the ground. In the greenhouse, they areeither on the potting benches or hanging from the ceiling. She brings them outin springtime, setting them on plastic tables, suspending them from pipes laidin the crotches of the maple trees, or on shelves attached to the chain linkwith picture wire. Every October, after she sterilizes the greenhouse, shemoves them back inside. The orchids would not thrive if they couldnt hangoutside for half the year.

The fences also serve the wildlife.The pipes along the tops of the fences are squirrel paths and songbird perches.Foxes, possums, cats, dogs and raccoons are too big to squeeze through thelinks. Baby rabbits, frogs, toads, snakes and chipmunks easily travel from yardto yard through the ground-level links. For the smaller creatures, the fencesoffer safety without confinement.

I dont think folks in ChestnutHill would like to see chain link fences in front of houses; they are kind ofugly. But if youre thinking about installing a fence in your backyard, chainlink makes a lot of sense.

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- Gardening: The hanging gardens of Chestnut Hill - Chestnut Hill Local