The Better Homes & Gardens Test Garden reflects on a quarter-century of evaluating the best plants for your garden.
I proposed the idea of creating an on-site test garden that could also serve as a photo studio.
Kane created the Test Garden plan that launched the project.
Credit:Carson Downing
He also hired Sandra Gerdes away from the gardens of Disney World to manage the new Test Garden.
Shortly after Gerdes arrived, Kane handed her pages of blueprints and said Here ya go.
Gerdes laughs, recalling that day.
And we made a garden.
That’s a bit of an understatement.
There is a vegetable and herb garden and a shades-of-green hosta garden.
There are perennials and annuals galore, providing color through the seasons.
Container gardens flaunt grasses, striking foliage, and colorful flowers.
Our first and foremost mission is to test plants for our readers, says Gerdes.
We want to help them have better gardens.
Greg Scheidemann
Our first and foremost mission is to test plants for our readers, says Gerdes.
We want to help them have better gardens.
Sandra Gerdes
That mission hasnt changed in 25 years.
However,garden trends, methods, plants, and goals of home gardenershave evolved over the years.
The Test Garden has evolved as well.
We are always looking for good garden performers, Gerdes says.
If its a sun plant, it better do well in the sun.
If it has flowers, we test to see if it is long-blooming.
Or is it fragrant?"
We want to find the most garden-worthy plants to share with our readers.
We did a page a few years ago on whichtypes of hostascan best withstand slugs, for example.
Credit:Marty Baldwin
Its the evolution of a living thing, Gerdes says.
Things get pulled out and replaced.
Weve lost plants and trees to storm damage or disease.
Credit:Better Homes & Gardens
We tweak beds and plant the newest vegetables and herbs for stories.
We do what we can to help our readers make better gardens."
Jimerson tested plants on his farm near Des Moines before the Test Garden was created.
And, he says, plant companies are constantly developing better plant varieties with home gardeners in mind.
Marty Baldwin
They want to insure gardeners have a more successful outcome, Jimerson says.
The best part of having the BHG Test Garden on site was its proximity.
It always seemed as if Sandra had waved a magic wand over the garden to make the lighting perfect.
Perhaps she learned that trick from her days at Disney.
