Neighborly inspiration
Mesmerized by a nearby garden in his youth, La Mesa resident creates his own lush, colorful sanctuary in long-term labor of love
After spending his weekdays with 25 energetic 5-yearolds as a kindergarten teacher, Nick Voinov needs a place and activity that provides respite. For decades, it’s been his garden.
Voinov, who lives in La Mesa with his wife, Joanna, and their three children, originally moved into his house in 1994 with friends. His mom, Janet, had bought it the year before. It’s across the street from the family home Voinov grew up in and where Janet still lives. Voinov bought it from her 10 years later when he and Joanna married. And he’s been working in that garden, now filled with a wide variety of succulents, for more than 20 years. It was only last year that he heard about Helix Water District’s WaterSmart Landscape contest. He entered and he won, receiving a $250 gift certificate to Walter Anderson Nursery.
THE INSPIRATION
Voinov has a special affection for his next-door neighbor Bob Simpson, an artist whose garden Voinov remembers as a boy as being special.
“In its day, it was always magical to me,” he recalled. “I loved to walk through it because it felt like walking into a painting. He created a lot of beauty, and he gave me tips on how to plant with color, texture and height in mind.”
Voinov’s house originally had a front yard filled with grass. By the early 2000s, he started removing it.
“I just always thought the grass was silly,” he said. “I mean, here especially, because it was something that we watered all the time. I would mow it and pack it up and send it off to the landfill. It’s kind of like a crop that you just grew to throw away. And I like lush environments, more dynamic environments.”
Voinov didn’t have a specific vision in mind, but knew he wanted to create something beautiful with a lot of variety that didn’t take a lot of water or money.
“I like a wilder and lush look to my garden,” he explained. “When I plant plants or change some aspect of the garden, I do it spontaneously. I may not like how something looks and I will pull a plant out and move it somewhere else. If I don’t find it visually appealing, I’ll try something new. Over the years, I have learned some basics of which plants do well next to each other.”
THE DETAILS
With the grass removed and Simpson’s garden as inspiration, Voinov started planting primarily succulents. And, following Simpson’s lead, he planted two Melaleuca trees
(Melaleuca quinquenervia) that have grown enough, but that he keeps pruned, to give him privacy on his front porch, and several Caribbean copper trees (Euphorbia cotinifolia).
Over time, the garden filled in. Voinov acquired three wheelbarrows, two of which so far are filled with succulents like ghost plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense) and green-and-magenta calico kitten
(Crassula pellucida ‘Variegata’) that are now draping over the front. Much of the garden has a field of yellow gazanias (Gazania rigens) as ground cover. Large foxtail agaves (Agave attenuata) dot the yard, providing