Nature's playroom

Joel Koyama, Star Tribune

The McClung's Eagan woodland garden.

How to create a looky, family-friendly garden

By Kim Palmer, Star Tribune

Last update: November 11, 2008 - 3:45 PM

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Kids'-eye view What's fun to do in the garden? The McClungs' grandchildren share their thoughts. "My favorite thing about the garden is the fireplace. Whenever it's good nights for a campfire it's my favorite place to go so we can roast marshmallows." - Christine Kunzer, 9 "I like to play in the woods ... army ... `Star Wars' ... lots of stuff." - Allen Kaus, 8 "When it was snowing out we had our sled and slided down through there. We had a lot of fun. We made an animal of snow a horse. We all sat on it." - Natalie Kunzer, 7 Favorite thing: "Catching frogs." Least favorite thing: "Too many plants so it's hard to catch frogs." - Matthew Kaus, 6 "He likes catching frogs." - Daniel Kaus, 3, according to his big brother Matthew

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Most gardeners wouldn't be pleased to have five kids running
roughshod over their plants. But Steve and Nell McClung don't mind
at all. The five kids are their grandchildren, ages 3 to 9, and the
Eagan couple designed their 5,000-square-foot woodland garden with
them in mind.

"We wanted to create a place where they could run and play and
not worry about breaking anything," Nell said.

Yes, plants get trampled and crushed. Shrubs fall victim to
frequent sledding. That's OK, Steve said. "It's not a show garden.
It's a place to enjoy."

Enjoying time with their extended family is a high priority for
the McClungs, a close-knit clan that includes two adult daughters,
who share a job at the couple's real estate development company and
take turns watching each other's kids. The three boys spend every
Friday with the McClungs, and they and their two girl cousins all
visit frequently.

"The first thing they do is jump out of the car and run in the
back yard," Nell said. Their outdoor activities vary with the
season. In the spring, the grandchildren help plant annuals and
hunt for frogs and toads, which are plentiful in the creek-bordered
back yard. During the long days of summer, they play elaborate
games of make-believe. "They pretend they're superheroes," Nell
said. "They really use their imaginations in the garden." Fall
brings seasonal chores and bonfires at the firepit. And in winter,
the garden becomes a white-dusted wonderland. "When it snows, we
tell the girls their daughters to go in and run the office, drop
the kids off and we'll have a play day."

The couple knows that their window of opportunity for play days
are limited. "There will come a time when it's not cool to come to
Grandma and Grandpa's house," Nell said. "Until they tell us it's
not cool anymore, they can come whenever they want."

There was no place for their grandchildren to play when the
McClungs bought their house several years ago. The half-acre lot
was choked with buckthorn, which had to be cleared before any
gardening could begin. But there was a bonus: virgin soil. "When
the buckthorn came out, the dirt was just heavenly," Nell said.

Steve amended the soil with peat moss and cow manure to make it
even richer. He also laid the garden's central nervous system, a
network of curved garden paths built with 14 tons of Minnesota
yellow flagstone.

Planting was phased in over three years. "It just kind of
evolved," Steve said. "We worked with what we had, which was shade."

Nell, a Dakota County master gardener, oversaw the design. Her
aim with perennials, which include many varieties of hostas and
hydrangeas, was grouping them according to their different bloom
times, to create seasonal waves of color. Tulips, pulmonaria and
daffodils offer bursts of springtime hues. "When the daffodils die,
the daylilies take over," she said. "As the daylilies fade, the
Autumn Joy sedum is just coming in."

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