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A Botanical Wonder | Sapphire, NC
Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: 2021/10 – October
For Tim Galloway, his vibrant Sapphire Valley garden is a gateway to a tranquil state of mind.
Gary Walton and Tim Galloway
The garden at and Gary Walton’s home in Sapphire Valley is a most magical place.
Or perhaps it’s best described as my editor Luke Osteen does, as “a botanical wonder.”
Tim and Gary fell in love with the mountain and its residents on their first visit in 2013. When they inhabited their home a few years later, they thought it would be an occasional retreat but soon realized they loved it more than their Florida home.
Since 2015 they’ve spent the warmer months here.
Gary’s retired from a career in education. He golfs and Tim, a retired landscape architect, tends to the garden.
“What’s different about our home,” Tim tells me, “is that it’s a small lot, so the garden design is more intimate. And we were fortunate, to begin with an almost blank slate.”
A travertine walkway was built from the top of the street to the front door so that guests could leisurely experience the front yard.
Walking up to the house, you feel that you have arrived at the perfect spot at the ideal time.
Tim tells me that it takes his guests forever to get to the front door because “they want to take everything in.” Alongside the steps, a variety of lush plants of different shades and textures fill the spaces. Water flows and cascades gently amid large flat rocks. A small gazebo on a moss lawn adds tranquility, and bronze deer graze and add whimsy.
Gardens adorn all sides of the house. On one side, there’s a garden for their dog, who likes to explore.
A flower garden on the home’s other side honors and memorializes Tim’s gardener mother.
Here, the mix of Perennials – Black-Eyed Susans, Dahlias, and Daisies – add vibrancy and color. On the large deck at the back of the house, fertile Ferns, Ivies, and Wandering Jew hang from the rafters, and begonias and impatiens overflow in containers.
Throughout the garden in containers and in the ground, there are many plants that Tim has brought from Florida – Bromeliads, Foxtail Fern, and Junipers. He likes trying different plants and advises, “Just get out and plant; it will make you feel good.”
And because he believes in working with nature and not against it, he cautions, “If a plant is not a perfect fit, rip it out and put another one in.”
