Low maintenance key in Modesto’s May Garden of the Month

Low maintenance combined with a mini forest-like feeling are hallmarks of the May Garden of the Month, selected by the Modesto Garden Club.

The yard at 916 Mills Ave. features trees and shrubs designed not only for easy upkeep for a retiree, but also to display year-round interest both in the foliage and blooms. Most of the front yard plants are evergreens with exception of Japanese maples, all surrounding three river rock beds.

Joan Michelotti, a retired heath educator and registered nurse, has lived in Modesto since 1981, purchasing the Mills Avenue home in April of 2012. She started renovating the landscape, with it completed about a year later in 2013.

The eye-catching fence work was inspired from a feature in Sunset Magazine, then designed for the home by Michelotti’s brother, Chuck Silva. The initial landscape design and installation were done by her brother-in-law, John Yarborough, making the yard a bit of a family affair.

Danny Hall & Pioneer Landscaping in Turlock completed the design and installation, which includes French drains on the home’s south side and another near a Japanese maple.

Among the trees and plants that pepper the yard are Aptos Blue redwoods, Blood Good Japanese maples, Red Emperor Japanese maples, White drift roses, Firepower Nandina, Duc de Rohan azaleas, Scotch moss groundcover, as well as Laurel cherry shrubs along the fence on the north side of the front yard.

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Low maintenance key in Modesto’s May Garden of the Month."