139 N. 2nd Street, Ashland, OR

Local artist and educator Judith Ginsburg developed and maintains the lovely garden at 139 N. 2nd Street which has been selected as the Ashland Garden Club’s Garden of the Month for July 2020.  The property was purchased as a rental in 1988 and completely remodeled in 1996.   The existing garage was converted to Ginsburg’s artist studio in 2001.  Although living elsewhere in Ashland, she comes to the studio most days and has done the regular maintenance in the garden since then.  She is currently planning a move into the front cottage.

In the 1990s, Judith had Landscape Architect Steve Potter create a plan for the garden.  Much of the hardscape remains from that plan, but only a few plants.  In 2016, Solid Ground Landscape redesigned the front yard, and in 2018, they did the back, always accommodating Judith’s preferences for plants and color.  Since then, she has personally added to and subtracted from the plan.  Solid Ground workers come twice a month to do standard maintenance.  Ginsburg averages about an hour a day on garden care.  It is truly an artist’s garden.

There is a gorgeous fountain, the sound of which does its’ best to mask the noise from the Post Office, the back of which is across the alley from the studio.  To encourage birds, there are many bird baths and bird feeders.  There are a lot of places to sit and relax throughout the back and a raised bed for veggies in the side yard.

On the back fence, there is a thriving climbing hydrangea, which is notoriously difficult to establish.  There is a large and healthy wisteria shading the back porch and an old but still glorious lilac in the parking strip.  Several Hypercium inodorum are stellar additions to the front garden.  Ginsburg often has passersby ask or leave notes asking for identification of those plants.  They are a shrub (a relative of St. John’s Wort—a common groundcover with yellow flowers) that has berries that range from white through pink and orange to red.  Among Judith’s favorite plants are peonies, hellebores, and tulips.

There is a little bit of everything here and well worth strolling by.

Article by: Ruth Sloan, Ashland Garden Club

Photos by Larry Rosengren