When Hanley bought his house, only big trees, nettles and weeds were growing in the yard. He made it a paradise with lots to do.
While pushing heavy pots into the cellar after summer, Hannel swears and assures Kokko that she will not fill the cellar with plants again next time. Yet, fall after fall, terrace hydrangeas, blood lily trees, Japanese maples and a grove of sedges end up there waiting for next summer.
The gardener cannot help his rescuers, even though the cellar is in a strange place behind a steep staircase. From there, the plants must be lifted into the light in spring, and a warm spot must be found for each.
The plot of about 6,000 square meters was initially almost completely inundated. Photo: Panu Risenan
Coco’s inner gardener comes alive in March at the latest, when the first hydrangeas begin to form buds.
– You have to go and check those buds several times a day. There will be such restlessness that the time will be good. You’ll need to start pulling other plants up, even if the spacer is shouting hosannas.
Coco lives alone. There is a large compound all around, where there is plenty for a lady.
He created his first garden when he was 24, when he bought his then detached house. The spark for gardening was ignited by a dear hobby of my own mother. Nature and its wonders have always interested Koko, who has not only plants in her garden, but birds as well.
He has been living at his present place in Vesivehma, Asikkala for 23 years. The approximately 6,000 square meter plot surrounding the red brick house was originally completely gutted. Only big trees, nettles and horsetail grew in the yard.
Koko has made different paths in the garden. Photo: Panu Risenan
The new resident was despondent and paralyzed for the first two years. His handprints slowly began to appear.
– I’ve been doing this for over 20 years. While this takes a long time, it is not long when you are doing it all by yourself.
Part of the plot is solid rock, and the bottom is barren land. Koko has shortened the yard with the help of a fence and turned it into a patched garden.
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Skunks were very beautiful, but they have a life of their own and humans cannot affect it.
Looking at his yard, Kokko says it’s very different from the one he originally built. Tastes have changed over the years: roses have bloomed in the yard, as well as “all the cornflowers sold in Finland”.
Plants have taught the gardener by flourishing and suffering. For example, most of the flies are dead. Only a few cases remain.
– Bears were incredibly beautiful, but they have their own life and humans cannot affect it. whether they live and thrive or not. Even if you know how and where to place them, it may happen that they don’t fly.
Today, Koko doesn’t need any pesky insects in her garden. She has learned to appreciate unpretentious and simple, but showy plants. The flowers have almost completely disappeared from the plot, and the garden is now decorated with fine perennials and specialty trees and shrubs.
The yard has three distinct sectors and development areas. Photo: Panu Risenan
Spring is coming when Haenel Koko starts moving the plants from one place to another.
It’s a challenging plot. If you want to try delicatessen and specialties, the upper yard next to the rock is a warm and sheltered spot for sensitive plants, but very dry. Elsewhere, field soil and moisture will be good, but cool and windy. You will have to try which plant agrees to settle better.
In fact, the plot has three distinct zones and development zones. Coco’s absolute favorite spot is a protected forest where magnolias, tulip trees, and other milkweed plants thrive.
– I made paths there. I would have liked sand paths, but I chose a bark covering, as the sand would have been too heavy to drive uphill.
Hannele Kokko can’t estimate the exact number of different plant species growing in her garden. Photo: Panu Risenan
Out of an area of 6,000 square metres, Koko manages an area of around 4,000 square metres. That would be enough, and he is not going to expand his garden anymore.
Although Koko tries to restrain herself in hoarding plants, the spring and winter garden fever takes her from place to place. Multa fingers yearn for new plants, for example, a Polish online store.
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Plants should be well watered, especially in the first years.
– Last summer I ordered a special hydrangea from there, which turned out to be a very beautiful flower. I ordered golden maples from Finnish gardens. I put them in the cellar for the winter, and now I’m wondering if I can plant them in the ground, or if I’ll keep them in pots and continue to winter in the cellar.
Coco is often asked how many different plants are in the garden.
– I must answer that I never counted. Given the size of the plot, there are not many species, so it is not a multi-species garden. However, there are many different varieties, and the same plants are repeated: for example, there are lots of moon lilies, fairy flowers, and hydrangeas.
– Despite the fact that my garden is “finished” and all spots have been visited in some way, spring usually brings out spots that have grown a bit wild, or don’t match what I want Account. That’s why I always end up putting something in there.
Buying plants is a waste of money if you don’t take care of them, says Hanele Kokko. Photo: Panu Risenan
When autumn comes, work in the garden ends. In Coco’s opinion, this is a person’s finest hour.
– Then I just enjoyed the autumn days and the garden. There aren’t enough guests in the fall for me to throw my gloves on the counter, he laughed.
A break also comes after the onset of summer, when mosquitoes take over the garden.
I’m not fanatic enough to enjoy myself in the midst of an invasion of mosquitoes, or in 32 degree heat somewhere.
For several years now, Haenel Coco’s goal has been to organize the yard for the Open Gardens event, which is celebrated this summer on July 9th.
When opening the gates of his garden to people and groups, he often hears the same question: “What exactly do you do when the plants are doing great?”.
Spring is coming when Haenel Koko starts moving the plants from one place to another. Photo: Panu Risenan
– I stress the importance of watering. Plants should be well watered, especially in the first years. The plant will not do well if it does not develop a proper root system. In the winter context, it is absolutely critical for a tree trunk to have an especially deep root system. You do not need to drink water every day, it is enough to drink 10-30 liters of water from time to time.
– Plants should not be left to their own devices, but they should be helped! Getting plants is a waste of money if you don’t care for them.
Often nature also organizes difficulties. Koko has the experience of both the previous winter and the water vole, which ate the roots of the column wound.
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Plants should not be left to their own devices, but they should be helped!
– I don’t know whether it was a water vole or a rat, but I assumed it lived in a ditch at the boundary of the plot. I saw passages 20-30 cm deep. I dug them big and filled them with used cat litter. I think they were complaining about the smell, because they’ve never seen one so bad.
The home gardener looks forward to spring with consistent temperatures without night frosts and already envisions himself in a jungle garden tucked away against the rock.
There Redbreast keeps me company.
