Gas Station Gardens
-
- July
- 20
I know, I know. You’re thinking marigolds planted 3 feet apart, in a sea of red mulch.
Maybe a half whiskey barrel with a geranium or two or a tangle of brown-edged juniper shrubs as a groundcover.
Something like this, right?
My colleague (and editor) Mary Dolan pointed me toward a gas station in Croton, where she lives, with great gardens. Yeah, right.
No really, she insisted. She even suggested a story for the paper including this one and others. (Occasionally, editors have good story ideas.)
Indeed, Jim Foley has done a great job landscaping his gas station — the Exxon Mobil at the corner of Riverside (9A) and Croton Point Avenue, just off Route 9.
I was totally impressed with what he’s done on this corner here.
Here’s Jim behind the counter of the convenience store/gas station.
And out in the garden, where he and his 5 employees spend as much time as they can.
He started the gardens in 2003 after he stopped leasing and bought the property from Exxon Mobil when the two companies merged. More goes in every year.
He even got an award from the village of Croton.
Sunflowers:
Zinnias:
:
Yarrow:
Even crocosmia (I have this—great plant. Hummingbirds love it):
They even have a compost pile. All the coffee grounds go here.
Jim again.
So now I’ve found one great gas station garden, but I need others for the story. Please leave me a comment here with suggestions on other gas stations with good landscaping/gardens in Westchester, Rockland or Putnam or call me at 914-696-8554 or email me at wcary@lohud.com.
And you know what? That sad “garden” at the top of this post really is just around the corner from Jim, on Riverside.
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 20th, 2007 at 10:01 am by Bill Cary.
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Bill Cary grew up in Louisville, Ky. His gardening was limited to growing parsley and impatiens on the windowsill of Manhattan walkups until the mid-1990s when he bought a rundown old chicken farm on 8 acres in the Hudson Valley. Now he spends his weekends chasing deer, hacking away at invasive shrubs and vines and wondering why he doesn`t have more meadow and less lawn.
I love that garden! Gas Station Gardens rule – this is a book idea waiting for someone….