Gardening Archives — Springmoor

Springtime at One of the Most Beautiful Retirement Communities in NC

Springmoor’s 43-acre campus is a nature lover’s dream, and spring is the perfect time to enjoy its splendor. In fact, half of this bustling retirement community in North Carolina is devoted to woodlands and manicured gardens. In creating the community, Springmoor’s founder Jud Ammons worked with the natural landscape to minimize tree loss.

“I was given a skeleton and just added flesh to the bone,” said Thom Morgan, Springmoor’s director of landscaping.

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Picturing Spring at Springmoor, a CCRC in Raleigh, NC

With its 43-acre, park-like campus that attracts residents and visitors alike, spring at Springmoor is truly something special. From well-kept lawns and gardens to unique courtyards and nature trails, any location on campus provides a great view of springtime blooms.

To better understand how the campus remains so beautiful, Springmoor’s landscaping manager, Thom Morgan, shared some behind-the-scenes details. With more than 20 years of experience at Springmoor and a background in landscape architecture, Thom has the knowledge, team and tools to keep Springmoor looking its best all year – and the spring season is a great one to highlight.

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Making Your New House a Home

The renovations begin on your new home shortly after you have made your color selections and style requests. Change a large set of closet doors to a narrower set of French doors, move the cable outlet behind the TV wall mount, add a built-in bookcase or customize your closet. All of these personalized requests make your house a home. With every new move-in, Springmoor will customize your home with your paint colors and flooring selections. If the apartment does not have the latest cabinetry, appliances, countertops and bathrooms, you choose these too. If there are additional updates to personalize your home, just ask! We are happy to help design your new home to fit all of your needs. Continue reading →

On the Grounds of Springmoor

New visitors are always quick to compliment Springmoor on the neatly manicured grounds and colorful landscaping throughout the campus. Nestled in a neighborhood and built into the topography of the land, the grounds are extremely lush and verdant. Residents are invited to add to their homes with their favorite annuals and perennials. This week our Resident Gardeners share their stories about gardening at Springmoor.

The Springmoor gardeners have had a successful summer crop this year

Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, corn, arugula and more can be found in the resident gardens

What have you planted this year in the resident garden or outside of your home?

On the South Village side of the campus, we have twenty-three resident gardeners who each have a 10’ x 20’ plot to plant their favorite vegetables and flowers.

For those with floral gardens, we now have a colorful mix of zinnias. Resident Dave Waters started in the winter season with his Hellebores and has continued to have blooms throughout the seasons with Brugmansia, Hibiscus, Star Lilies and Salvia, to name just a few. Continue reading →

A Secret Garden

Audrey Austin and Rachel Manning in the secret garden

Did you know there was a garden in the west wing at Springmoor? It’s a surprise to many who don’t walk down this hallway on a daily basis. The Garden Room is a beautiful sunny greenhouse for residents to tend to their plants in the winter months. There is ample counter space where everyone in the community can bring their plants from their patios and porches during the coldest months of the year.

Residents Rachel Manning and Audrey Austin have been taking care of everything in the Garden Room for years. Both say they have learned their gardening skills through trial and error. Both ladies say they have always preferred to be outside, playing golf or digging in the dirt. Rachel, a former Master Gardener, can help answer questions about your plants or find someone who can if she doesn’t know. Audrey says her plant knowledge comes from years of experience.

Neighbors

When she was young her mother wanted her out of the kitchen, Audrey says. Her mom said she broke too many dishes. She sent her outside to play and it’s there that Audrey learned to garden. She has always had a flower garden and now at Springmoor she has two. In her ground floor apartment, sitting on her patio or looking out the window, she realized she sees more of her neighbor’s yard than her own. She joked with John Pearson, her neighbor, one day saying that she was going to plant flowers in his yard to brighten her view and send him the bill. He laughed and said, “Please do!” And she has ever since. The two yards are filled with rows of her favorite pansies and many other blooming species. And he continues to pay the bill!

Red pepper, she says, is the best advice she can offer for keeping the deer and the squirrels from eating the pansies. When they are first planted in the ground, she adds the pepper. For the first three weeks, until the pansies are well established, she goes out each morning to replant them from the animal’s early morning walk through her garden. After a rain or every few days, she adds more pepper. The animals soon realize this is not a good spot for grazing and move on. There is a hawk also, she says, that has helped keep things in order on the north side of the campus.

Rachel's gardening touches can be found in many places on campus — Rachel’s gardening touches can be found in many places on campus

Master Gardener

Rachel went through the Wake County Master Gardener program and has volunteered on the Springmoor Building and Grounds committee for many years. As a Master Gardener, you become part of the volunteer staff of NC State University’s Cooperative Extension Service. A member provides educational assistance and programs in horticulture and environmental issues to the gardening public. Rachel remembers going through the rigorous training program and being interviewed by former Springmoor residents, Bob and Betty Cook. Bob was the Assistant Dean for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State University and Betty served as a Home Economics Extension Agent for Wake County. The three later became neighbors at Springmoor and all volunteered with the Building and Grounds Committee.

Rachel has a small flower garden now under her balcony. She, along with Kathleen and Jim Perry, have planted a beautiful garden on the path between the villas and the east wing. The azaleas, hydrangeas and dogwoods, carefully attended by Rachel along the bank, brighten everyone’s day as they walk through the woods. Rachel has a much larger zinnia garden in South Village during the summer months. She shares her flowers with those in the Stewart Health Center as well as with her neighbors. She looks forward to planting tomatoes also in her larger garden in just a few weeks.

Perfect light and temperatures during the winter months

Inside and outside, Rachel shares her green thumb

Under the balcony window, there are more spots for digging in the dirt

The Perry's garden — The Perry’s garden brightens the walkway too

Zinnias can be found on many office desks in the summer months — Zinnias from the resident’s gardens can be found on many office desks in the summer months

Grounds Keeper

Thom Morgan, Springmoor’s Landscape Architect, not only manages the upkeep of our 42-acre campus but he also helps in the Garden Room and in the Resident Garden. Thom and his crew will help transport the resident’s large plants from the patios to the greenhouse for winter storage. If Rachel and Audrey spot a fungus or a bug on any of the plants, he comes to spray. In the next few weeks, he will till the soil for the thirty resident garden plots located in South Village. He helps provide answers to many questions about indoor and outdoor plants.

The Garden Room

Rachel and Audrey take turns each month working in the Garden Room. While they are not responsible for watering or pruning all the plants, they will call to remind a resident if theirs needs a little TLC. They watch for bugs and fungus and alert Thom when necessary. The window overlooking the room is always cheerfully decorated for the season. Rachel was quick to say that, with Audrey’s many years in the classroom, she has lots of decorative items to use for the months when it is her turn.

The room is beginning to empty now as the temperatures outside are rising. The porches are filling up with plants again. The lemon tree that has been filled with dozens of lemons has found its way home again. The orchids, however, seem to stay throughout the year as the sun and warmth of the room make it a much better environment for the tropical plants. Audrey has kept hers in the Garden Room for years. Still in its original tiny pot, new shoots continue to grow with only a few sprinkles of water each week. Continue reading →

A Campus in Bloom

Raleigh saw large wet snowflakes four days ago and is expecting temperatures to be in the 80s today. Over the years, Raleigh residents have come to expect several seasons all in one week! The beauty of living here is not only the fair weather temperatures but also the blooms of spring. Daffodils, cherry blossoms, forsythia and tulip trees have been in full bloom the past few weeks – some even covered in a layer of snow a week or so ago.

The buds are visible and the first few azaleas are beginning to bloom. Springmoor will soon be tilling the gardener’s soil and they can begin planting their summer tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. A new resident recently described Springmoor as a lush oasis, tucked away in a residential neighborhood. The beauty of our 42-acre campus, hidden from the busy city streets, overwhelmed him. If you haven’t stopped by to see our campus in full color, we invite you to visit soon. The azaleas and dogwoods are stunning!