From puddle to pond
Cranberry garden on tour boasts sparkling water and colorful flowers
There is always something blooming in Mary and Rick Bucci’s backyard garden in Cranberry.
“I just plant whatever I like. I don’t really have a master plan,” she said. “I love things that have a lot of fragrance.”
You can get a sniff of the Buccis’ garden on July 25, but you might have to pull down your face mask. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., it will be one of six gardens on the Southern Butler County Garden Club’s 12th annual tour. It’s the only real garden tour in this COVID-19 summer and participants are required to wear masks and maintain social distance. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 on tour day from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center, 2525 Rochester Road, 16066.
Whatever the season, you
can find flowers at the Buccis. Lilies of the valley, violets and mountain laurel start the show, followed by honeysuckle, magnolias,
daisies, daylilies and false sunflowers (Heliopsis). Even in the dead of winter, there is some color — a tall witch hazel on the side of the house.
But the feature that catches most visitors’ attention is the water garden. Added three years ago, it includes a waterfall, stream and pond where 100 goldfish swim. It was once unusable space that turned into a big puddle when it rained.
“If you have a spot that gives you a problem, maybe it’s trying to tell you something,” Mrs. Bucci said. “I think that area wanted to be a pond, so we turned it into a pond.”
The couple first turned to landscape architect Kevin Soergel, owner of Soergel Landscapes, Aquascapes.
For 45 minutes, he sat with the Buccis, asking questions about what they liked and what they wanted before coming up with a plan.
“He’s a true artist with boulders,” she said.
The result is a stream that starts in the back with a small bog that naturally filters the water and helps control algae. Two pumps feed the waterfall that runs under a footbridge, filling the pond. The Buccis leave their bedroom window open some nights so they can hear the water. During the day, the footbridge is a favorite of their granddaughters, Giuliana, 4, and Sofia, 1½.
“She helps grandpa feed the fish,” Mrs. Bucci said of Giuliana.
The school of goldfish began with just 10 fish three years ago. They have multiplied to the point where it would be difficult to tell if a heron ever struck again. The last time one visited, Mr. Bucci installed a fence and a fake heron that seem to be working.
Pots on the patio include the annuals portulaca and geraniums in hanging baskets and huge basil plants at least 12 inches tall.
Mrs. Bucci prefers plants native to Western Pennsylvania, including “volunteers.” She says it drives her husband crazy that she insists on letting wild plants grow to see their flowers. One of her favorites is jewelweed, which has an orange, orchid-like flower.
“It blooms. I really like it,” she said.
Mountain laurel, Pennsylvania’s state flower, is another favorite.
“I’ve had it since we first moved here in 2003,” Mrs.
Bucci said. “I never saw it bloom until this year because we moved it out from under the shade.”
This is her first garden tour. Until this year, she hadn’t heard of the Southern Butler County Garden Club.
A member was visiting one of the Buccis’ neighbors, saw their garden and recommended it for the tour.
She hopes tour-goers will discover a little of the peace and security she finds here.
“No matter what’s going on in your life, the comforting thing is that nature never really changes,” she said. “Nature doesn’t care about COVID-19. You can come out here and sit and the world is still the same.”
Mrs. Bucci said her inspiration comes from Psalm 84, verse 6: “When they walk through the valley of weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.”
“I had a lot of grief in my life in my younger days. Before I was 40, I’d buried my mother, my brother and my sister,” she said. “I really think God has taken the valley of weeping and turned it into a place of refreshing springs. That’s what I think about when I see this.”