About
Jacksonville Gardens is written by Juliet Johnson, a Duval County Master Gardener and Associate Landscape Designer c/o the National Landscape Design School.
Lifelong Gardener
Growing up in England, with a mother who craved history, I visited every stately home and garden we possibly could. My grandfather was a proud Highlander, and gardened a good spread in Dunkeld, Scotland. He had a massive veg patch, plums growing along the kitchen wall, an apple orchard and lots and lots of flower beds. It was idyllic. The house and garden overlooked from the River Tay. The village was down an exceedingly steep hill that most cars couldn’t crest. Walking up this thing WITH groceries was a lot for a little tyke but it kept me fit and probably took a lot of the “wigglies” out of this energetic little girl.
Cluaran Summer 1959
The orchard to the left, formal gardens to the right and a lovely lawn. No-one ever used this front door, except for my stepfather when he came to ask for my mother’s hand in marriage. A very exciting day!
Cluaran Summer 1959-015
Pre-picnic play. Obviously mad they brought a camera not snacks!
Moorlands Great Lawn
With no irrigation, I remember our lawns in Sheffield often drying out in the summer. The fun view includes two symmetrical rose gardens, and then the dahlia beds up by the house. To the left was the summer house for tea and croquet; to the right was a playhouse, where they built a stage and I put on horribly bad plays. My poor parents.
Moorlands Pond with Dusty Aged 7
The pond, with climbing roses leading down to the pheasant run. I took all this for granted as a kid – how I wish now that I had written it all down!
Moorlands 1966
The fo0rmal rose gardens… why are there so many photos in winter months. Maybe this was Spring – looks like manure on the beds, no?
Mummy’s Bad Siamese
Behind a tall hedge was the cutting garden, with mostly gladiola, irises, all the tall stuff for flower arranging. My mother had it made!
Rose Garden with Dusty
There were 4 rose gardens, two lining a path along the Great Lawn. Here, you see them packed with straw and pruned way back for winter.
This is the only current photo I can find online of my grandparents home. Since the house sold in March 2019, my guess is they listed it in January as it sure looks damp and cold in this photo!
After 9 years in boarding school (Wycombe Abbey) just outside London, I left for America to do 4 years at Smith in MA. By the last semester, I’d moved to New York City, never to live in England again.
What student cares about gardening? Living in Manhattan for years after graduation, there closest I got to grass was a Diana Ross concert or Shakespeare in the Park.
When we started with children, the house in Maplewood, NJ had a yard and the fun began.
From NJ to Myrtle Beach, SC for a scant year in a rental to finally Florida, I’ve jumped from 6b to 9a. Quite the leap!
Finally Florida
The shock! But the challenge, the lushness, the lovely warm weather, the horribly hot weather, the “insect pressure”, the weird seasons, how rarely nothing ever dies that you want to, how does one do it?
Perseverance
an open heart and mind
a Neck Fan
and lots of things to sit on, kneel on, and drag stuff around with.
Get In Touch
(904) 701-0387
jj@JacksonvilleGardens.com
Jax, FL 32257
Let’s Build Your Dream Garden Together
With blog posts, tip sheets, talks at various garden clubs, etc. we can do this together. If you have a specific question, do please reach out to me. I’m happy to help, and if I don’t know the answer, I can direct you to where there will be one.