Jule Gradek’s tone on tone landscaping won the McMinnville Garden Club’s June Yard of the Month award.
Marcus Larson/News-Register

Gradek said she loves gardening for its creative and therapeutic aspects.
Marcus Larson/News-Register

Gradek’s front yard is planted largely in greens, with color accents, such as this glass flower.
Marcus Larson/News-Register

A gargoyle crouches under a small maple, ready to drive off evil spirits.
Marcus Larson/News-Register

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The little house on Northwest Star Mill Way is right where Jule Gradek belongs. Its mix of blossoms, shrubs and whimsical garden art perfectly reflect her personality.

“I am not a traditional gardener,” Gradek said. Gardening, however, has been a part of her life since childhood, and today it provides a rich outlet for her creative impulses.

Gradek purchased the house in 2004, just as she was preparing to move to Mexico for a year. Since returning, she’s been hard at work, redoing both the house and its front and back yards.

After spending most of her life on a small farm, an urban yard represented a considerable change. But Gradek has cobbled together enough space to indulge in everything from feeding birds to growing fruits and vegetables and creating scenic vistas.

The front yard that won her the McMinnville Garden Club’s June Yard of the Month award is her “monochromatic” garden, planted primarily in shades of green, with accent points in the form of a small red maple, bright red azaleas along the front of the house and a few roses.

There are also a variety of art pieces scattered around, from the little gargoyle under the maple to the copper and crystal butterflies. Pots and hanging baskets of flowers add texture and color, and in front of the garage, Gradek has created a partially sheltered seating area.

The backyard, which her grandchildren call “Mimi’s magical garden,” features a children’s playground, a fruit and vegetable garden and an array of favorite flowers in all manner of bright hues.

The house was built as a retirement home for a couple who also built the house next door, and Gradek has kept some of the original roses and hellebores from the earlier landscape. “I think it’s inherent in this little house that the women have gardened,” she said.

Birdbaths and feeders draw plenty of winged visitors. From the window of her computer room, Gradek enjoys watching hummingbirds, jays and woodpeckers.

Located across from City Park, near Cozine Creek, Gradek copes with a variety of wildlife in her urban yard. Squirrels play havoc with her birdfeeders, raccoons dig for grubs and deer would devour her flowers, she said, if she didn’t “religiously” spray deer repellent.

“It stinks,” she said, “but it works.” Most of the time, the deer simply walk through, stopping to look around curiously.
She’s philosophical about the shared arrangements.

In addition to digging in the yard, the raccoons use it for a toilet, which kills the grass. “It just irritates me,” she said, “but you know what, they have every right to be here.”

n Favorite garden feature: Her seven different hydrangeas, all of which bloom at different times. “I really enjoy those,” Gradek said. She’s also especially fond of her red twig and green twig dogwoods, for the winter interest they bring to the landscape.
n Time spent maintaining it: Eight to 10 hours a week, from spring on. “Sometimes more,” she said. “It depends on whether I get a major project going on.”

n How she began gardening: It was around her from the beginning, Gradek said. She grew up in Illinois, and spent summers at her grandmother’s Wisconsin cottage. Together, they would visit the neighbors for coffee.

“All these little old ladies would have their little gardens, and so from a kid, it was always visually part of my life,” she said. “My mother canned. My favorite aunt and uncle had a huge garden.”

n Why she enjoys it: “That’s my church,” Gradek said. “My spiritual touch.” She said she also loves the creative outlet.