As spring approaches, residents of Chattanooga are being encouraged to embrace the season with a fresh start in their gardens. Three local gardeners—Hannah Lanning, Pam Sohn, and Becca Levin—are offering their insights and tips for cultivating outdoor spaces that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Designing with Purpose

Hannah Lanning, a Realtor and garden designer, has helped transform several yards in the area with unique garden concepts. One of her recent projects involved creating a sensory garden for a client in East Brainerd, designed to provide a calming outdoor environment for a child with autism. The garden features an evergreen privacy wall that helps reduce noise from traffic, creating a serene space.

Another project involved a client in St. Elmo who is converting their lawn into a “food forest.” This approach involves replacing grass with fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, and flowers that can be harvested for food. Lanning said, “Not many people are willing to give up their grass, but there are creative ways to use your garden space.”

Planning for Success

Pam Sohn, a retired journalist and avid gardener, has transformed a former apple orchard into a meadow filled with native plants. These include butterfly weed, ironweed, scarlet bee balm, and cutleaf coneflower, which attract a variety of pollinators. Sohn emphasizes the importance of having a plan when starting a garden, saying she used to buy plants on a whim without a strategy.

After retiring in 2023, Sohn consulted with Dennis Bishop, a professional landscaper and member of Tennessee Valley Wild Ones, to help design her garden. Together, they used color-coded flags to mark where different plants should be placed, ensuring they would thrive in the specific conditions of her property.

Becca Levin, a longtime community volunteer, has created a vegetable garden in her backyard using raised beds. She said, “I don’t think I could be more passionate about my tomatoes and cucumbers. A couple of years ago, I had 23 varieties of grape and cherry tomatoes growing.” Levin also participates in the Master Gardeners of Hamilton County program, which has helped her refine her gardening techniques.

The Value of Native Plants

Both Sohn and Levin stress the importance of using native plants in gardens. Sohn follows the advice of conservationist Doug Tallamy, who visited Chattanooga in October for a lecture series. Tallamy’s philosophy is that native plants support native wildlife by providing food for birds and insects. Sohn explained, “His whole spiel is: ‘Native plants feed native birds, which eat native bugs.’ If there’s a chink in there, it throws off the ecology.”

Levin noted that even homeowners with strict homeowners’ association rules can incorporate native plants into their landscapes. She said, “Native plants not only benefit pollinators—you benefit from it as well. You get to see the hummingbirds and the butterflies coming to your yard.”

Resources and Community Support

Gardeners in Chattanooga have access to a variety of resources and community support. Tennessee Valley Wild Ones offers monthly educational programs, certification in native plants, and events including hikes, tours, and native plant sales in spring and fall. The Master Gardeners of Hamilton County also provides monthly classes, as well as a garden expo in the spring, a garden tour in the summer, and a garden festival in the fall.

The Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs maintains a statewide list of gardeners, and District III, which includes the Chattanooga area, hosts a public event each February. This year’s “A Day of Gardening” focused on integrating fruits, vegetables, and herbs into flower beds.

Patience and Long-Term Planning

Soahn emphasized the importance of patience in gardening, citing the “sleep, creep, leap” adage for perennial plants. This refers to the three-year growth cycle where plants first establish roots (sleep), slowly expand (creep), and finally reach full size and bloom (leap). Sohn applied this principle when working with Bishop to design her garden, saying, “I got tired of looking out the dining room window and seeing briar weeds.”

The project has taken months and is still a work in progress. Sohn used cardboard and mulch to cover the grassy area over the winter and then brought in Bishop to help with the planting process. She explained that using small plant plugs, rather than larger plants, has been an effective strategy for her garden.