Building Nevada - July 2002

Tova’s Garden Blooms in Nevada

Home-Grown Firm Offers Gardening Advice

by Linda Fine

If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it’s sure to change. Most Northern Nevadans are familiar with this saying and they know there is truth to the old maxim. They’re also aware that gardening in Nevada can present special challenges to even the most knowledgeable gardener. Tova Roseman, owner and founder of Tova’s Garden, a firm specializing in microclimates and innovative garden concepts, is an expert on the state’s tough weather patterns. She is doing her best to change the way the growing season here is viewed.

"There is a perception that very little grows in the Reno-Tahoe area because of our climate," Roseman said. "This false perception has been generated due to historically focusing on desert-like landscaping with the idea that it requires less water and maintenance." In actuality, a typical landscape including a lawn, trees and shrubs uses 30 percent less water than the less eye-appealing xeriscape approach, she said. With a degree in horticulture and landscape design from the University of Nevada, Reno, Roseman knows her flora. Her specialty, creating microclimates — think of a greenhouse as a microclimate — has allowed her to grow plants in her Reno yard that most gardeners wouldn’t consider. Besides cultivating her green thumb, Roseman has co-hosted a radio talk show dealing with gardening; she can be seen on television; she is a landscape design consultant, a freelance writer and is a professional speaker. And if that’s not enough, she is the author, designer and publisher of two books — Perennials and Mr. Vegetable’s Garden Tips, which are volumes one and two of the Tova’s Garden series. The series is specific to the intermountain and high desert regions. The books were bestsellers in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Roseman’s designs incorporate high color, low maintenance and minimal water usage, all planned to sustain a perennial core. Combinations of flowering perennials, shrubs, specialty trees and ornamental grasses are the mainstays of a Roseman design, building color, texture and durability. Additionally, soil remediation is essential and almost guarantees success, she explained. "We’re going back to incorporating nutrients into our soils. We Americans don’t think about amending the soils because we haven’t been farmers in the past — we haven’t lived off the land."

With these basics in mind, she introduced what she calls the European look - a palette of plant materials new to the West Coast. Many of the grasses, heirloom roses and perennials comprising her European gardens come from Japan, Australia and South Africa, but surprisingly, all of them are compatible with the complicated Nevada climate zones. Roseman said she wants to steer people away from xeriscaping by incorporating less traditional plants as well as lawn, trees and shrubs into a yard. "I was frustrated with the design used in the United States. I’m a passionate gardener as well as a horticulturist and I asked myself why aren’t we using these plants. I decided to bring them to the West."

Homeowner Alice Heiman worked with Roseman on her recent backyard remodel. With the addition of a drip irrigation system, new soil and several hours of consultation — Heiman wanted birds, butterflies and lots of flowers for cutting — her dream became a reality. "People come to my yard and they can’t believe how gorgeous the flowers are, all from my little backyard," she said. According to Roseman, innovative landscaping increases property values, shows a concern for the quality of life and has a positive effect on the marketability of planned communities.