Known throughout the Twin Cities and among Channel 12 viewers for her creative garden design work and extensive horticultural knowledge, Heidi Heiland of Heidi's Lifestyle Gardens was recently recognized on a national stage.
In July, Heiland was honored with a residential landscape design award from the Perennial Plant Association (PPA) headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio. The PPA is a trade organization made up of experts in the herbaceous perennial industry, including growers, landscape designers, contractors and educators.
According to Heiland, "The most excellent entries are chosen for honor based on exemplary use of herbaceous perennial plant material used through the implantations of new cultivars, color combinations, textures and seasonal combinations."
The theme of the landscape design surrounding Heiland's Plymouth home is centered on the idea of “Nurturing with Nature.” Every space throughout Heiland's two-acre property was designed to serve a variety of functions: She incorporates edibles into every garden; there's an outdoor shower by the hot tub; there's a dining area underneath a maple tree; Heiland engages in green exercise in the backyard using TRX bands; she provides horticultural therapy classes. Her property also boasts several environmentally friendly features, including gardens grouped by moisture requirements, several rain gardens, a rain chain and a permeable paver driveway.
"Living on your land in a more full way will help us be better people," says Heiland. "To have [the PPA] think this space is something that would feed others and they could learn from and be healed was really exciting for me."
Heiland says winning this award from the PPA is the pinnacle of her career. She says she has spent about 15 years, using her time and expertise as a horticulturalist, to build her yard up to where it is today. She says, while it would be extremely difficult for most gardeners to create and maintain a garden similar in size and variety, she says it's not hard for people to transform their own green space on a smaller scale using small steps. You can stick salad greens in your flower bed, adopt a box of bees or just hang a birdfeeder from a tree.
"I think anybody has an opportunity to connect with nature however it works for them."
For more information about Heidi’s Lifestyle Gardens, visit: Heidi’sLifestyleGardens.com, or write: info@BloomOnMN.com.
For more information about the Perennial Plant Association, visit: http://perennialplant.org/
Renee Banot
rbanot@twelve.tv
August 10, 2012