Not your average front yard

Driving by Gary Crawford's house in Midlothian, motorists occasionally slow down and perhaps take a longer look at it than other residences.

The house on 147th Street just east of Central Avenue is a rather modest ranch-style home, painted in light gray with white trim.

But it's not the house that's eye-catching. It's the front yard.

There is plenty of greenery but nary a blade of grass to be seen.

After countless times mowing lawns for money as a kid, Crawford doesn't want to mow anymore.

So the front yard is full of peony bushes, about 100 of them, he said. Between those bushes are about 1,000 daffodils and sedum. Mixed in is a little Siberian iris, a few black-eyed Susans, ornamental grasses and a few rose bushes. He even has a little rhubarb and asparagus plants mixed in.

It's as if an entire nursery has been planted in his front yard.

Why Crawford would eschew a front yard of Kentucky bluegrass for dozens of perennials is answered in several parts.

First, his yard generates very little yard waste that ends up in a landfill. The little yard waste he does collect is mixed in with soil as fertilizer. Very little waste is wasted.

Second, he learned to enjoy gardening from his parents, who live only a few blocks away. While most of his plants are perennials, Crawford says he still likes going to pick up a few annuals with his parents to make hanging baskets

"My mom and dad have put out a garden every year for the last 50 years. I guess I learned to love it from them," he said.

Besides the flowering plants in the front, Crawford makes the most of the land in his back yard, too. There, he's planted a vegetable garden with tomatoes, potatoes and broccoli. On the driveway is a greenhouse he's made himself from a couple of patio doors. His vegetable plants get their start in the greenhouse from seed.

Perhaps the biggest reason he has such a unique garden is what he calls his compulsion to collect.

"Some guys collect coins or stamps. I collect plants. I have a collector's mentality. But my collection builds and grows on its own," he said.

If his "collection" seems a bit more vibrant this year than most, it's that he has the time for it. Crawford is a machinist and worked as a field service technician before being laid off this year. He used to have to travel for a week at a time making service calls. Now he has more time to work on the garden.

And those who live around him have noticed he's stepped it up a bit. Crawford frequently gets passers-by who knock on his door and want to know what his secrets are. So he takes a little walk around and talks shop.

He tries to be as organic as possible. Crawford has a compost pile and takes the organic material and uses it as fertilizer. But he's also not afraid to get out store-bought weed killer to blast away weeds invading his sanctuary.

Both yards are his project, he says. His role is to take care of the outside while his wife, Cathy, takes care of the inside, he said.

But that doesn't mean she's afraid of a pair of pruning shears. She's gotten more involved over their 14 years of marriage and takes pride in her own floral contributions.

"My interest has grown. He has taught me quite a bit. I've always loved working outdoors and being in the yard. He doesn't deal with the annuals. That's my kind of thing. I plant along the walk way up to the front door. And the hanging baskets. Then at harvest time I help can the tomatoes," she said.

Crawford soon may expand his frontyard decorations. His plants reflect his artistic side. His machine work is part of his career. Now he wants to bring the two together through sculpture.

He already has a metal dinosaur sculpture out front and could add more.

Crawford says he doesn't garden and sculpt to draw attention to himself. He's not a, "Hey, look at me," type of guy he says.

He likes what he does. And if others enjoy looking at it too, so be it.