In the waning winter days of 2009, Victoria Keys Young stood in the front yard of her new residence in Grosse Pointe Shores and, with her face set in steely determination, she peered fiercely at the menacing foe: a weedy, prickly, vine-filled, monstrously overgrown yard and β at the fore β a villainous euonymus bush with straggly branches, creeping across the front stoop.
Plotting her attack, Young decided to retreat until spring. βThe first thing I did,β Young says, βwas weed. And weed. And weed!β When that proved insurmountable, Young sketched a plan, enlisted help, and tackled the property section by section. With her drawings and plans, beds were cleared out, pachysandra was planted, hedges of boxwood bushes went in, and arborvitae soon stood as gentle sentinels.

βThe pachysandra has such easy maintenance,β the gardener says, βand everything has a different texture, color, feel. For example, my boxwoods arenβt the βgemβ variety. Theyβre emerald green. And when the arborvitae were being put in, the landscaping workers were starting to plant them in a straight line. βNo!β I said, βWe have to be creative!β So itβs all been planted in a curve. (I like to call it) βcurve appeal!β β Young continued her work and cleared areas for two rose gardens, choosing to fill the spaces with yellow roses. βI picked yellow roses because Iβd never seen a yellow rose garden. I always like things that are out-of-the-ordinary.β
The transformation was so astonishing that Young was asked to participate in the Grosse Pointe 2015 Garden Tour. βThe yellow roses made it breathtaking,β Young says. βCan you imagine walking into a sea of yellow?β

The gardens require constant care. βThereβs no vacation for me in the summer,β Young says. βI have to be here. I have to take care of them.β
Although each plant is fitted with an irrigated βdrip zoneβ watering tube, Young monitors and controls the system manually. She also changes the bedsβ top layers four times per season, replacing soil, humus, peat moss, and fertilizer to prevent molding. βItβs like a mom who knows when her child is getting sick. If a plant isnβt thriving, I look and say, βWhatβs wrong here?β And I usually can find and treat the cause.
βWhen I was a little girl, Iβm the one who would go outside and, if I saw weeds between the tulips, Iβd pick those weeds. Iβd wash the walls inside the house. I wanted everything to be neater and more beautiful.
βNow, people stand at my curb and say, βThis is so relaxing! This is so beautiful,β β Young says. βI invite them to cut some roses, and I show them a trick that will keep them fresh for over two weeks!β The secret? The rose sage says itβs to recut the roses just a bit, on a slant, under slightly warm water.
βAnyone can (beautify their yard),β she says. βHave a starting point, like your walkway. Then go from there.
βTry using pachysandra for your borders, have potted flowers (Young has an uncanny ability to create stunning container combinations), and add perennials, yearly, to a garden youβve outlined. Visitors walk away saying, βHey! I could do this, too!ββ

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