‘Oddball’ garden perfect for Omahans who love to cook

She’s a landscape architect for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who likes planting unusual fruit. He spent three years in the Peace Corps in Thailand working with fruit farmers there. Fruit really is what they talked about when they first met at a party in 2020.

Since they purchased their own home in Benson two years ago, they’ve reveled in investigating different nurseries for “oddball” items to plant in their backyard.

Pawpaws, persimmons, kiwis, figs, quince and juneberries aren’t the usual fruit selections, although they also have peach and apple trees.

“We both love cooking, and we think it’s fun to experiment with recipes and different dishes,” Anderson said. “I feel like all these unusual fruit and nut plants we’ve got going on will be a way to invent different dishes.”

The couple’s home will be one of nine gardens on the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum Omaha garden walk on Sept. 17. Eight gardens will be showcased in a Lincoln version on Sept. 10.

Each of the gardens included on the tours is maintained by NSA members and feature native plants and sustainable landscaping. Tickets are $10 per car for NSA members and $15 for nonmembers.

Upon registering at plantnebraska.org/garden-walks, participants will be emailed a map of the gardens on the tours, the street addresses and a description of each.

Anderson and Henry are in just year two of a five-year plan for their yard, so Anderson cautions that visitors will see just the start of their efforts.

They’ve already planted around 90 trees, shrubs and vines. Flowers are last on their list, although they’ve added annuals in pots for pops of color.

“We wanted to do the slow-growing things first,” Anderson said.

The downward slope of the backyard was a positive to the pair rather than a deterrent. Anderson likes the “drama” of the slope and the cool topography.

To end the slipping and sliding down that grass hill, however, they’ve built red sandstone stairs. Some of the rocks weighed 300 pounds or more, and they had to remove several rocks from previous owners’ attempts.

They watched several YouTube videos and talked to Anderson’s colleagues before tackling the big project, which provides a focal point for the backyard.

“We love being outside,” Anderson said. “This is kind of our thing we like to do together, along with cooking.”

The quarter-acre yard itself is divided into areas along the edges, so they can still keep a decent amount of grass as a play area for themselves and their dog.

There’s an orchard corner, a friendship garden where they’ve planted flowers received from friends as a housewarming gift and a raised-bed kitchen garden on the side of the house. Henry likes growing heirloom tomatoes and Thai plants.

There’s also a big watermelon and pumpkin patch.

Three pecans they purchased during an auction by the Nebraska Nut Growers Association are flourishing in the front parking.

An A-frame shed in the back with its porthole window in the door provides a touch of romantic whimsy, Anderson said.

They’ve been biting off one project at a time, and trying to keep excellent records of their plantings because they’d like to someday be an affiliate site for the arboretum. The My Garden Affiliate program is for home gardeners who want to use their private gardens to create a more resilient environment.

They’re already seeing a growing number of butterflies and birds, including four screech owls that they spotted one day in their arborvitae.

“I was 10 feet away from them,” Anderson said. “I think they were sleeping in that bush, and I woke them up when I walked by. That was so cool. How often do you get to see an owl?”

Because they have so much sun, they can plant the diverse plants that they enjoy, although Anderson said there’s a real trick to squeezing in everything on their list.

They don’t want items in rows; instead, plants are tucked in and woven into the landscape.

“We wanted it to be a relaxing, beautiful setting for being outside,” Anderson said. “This is our first house. We had a lot of dreams. We thought this is the perfect place to start planting.”