Photo courtesy of Yew Dell Gardens

The presence of a “castle” at Yew Dell Gardens was enough to convince Paul Cappiello’s son that the family should move there. The National Garden Conservancy has since put the site on its list of special places.

   As Paul Cappiello discussed with his family the prospect of leaving his position at Bernheim Forest, an expansive well endowed, widely known botanical preserve near Bardstown, to lead the fledgling effort to create a botanical garden in tiny Crestwood, he gained a bit of insight on the benefits of taking on the project from his 9-year-old son response.
   “Duh. They have a castle!”
   That was about six years ago, and life since has been a blur of wood chippers and weary volunteers for Cappiello. He leads an ongoing renovation of Yew Dell Gardens in Oldham County that is drawing national attention by horticultural enthusiasts and professional societies. The Garden Conservancy, for example, has named Yew Dell as one of its 14 official preservation efforts in America.
   “Yew Dell was created by Theodore Klein and his wife, Martha Lee, over many years after they bought this property in 1940,” said Cappiello. “He became one of the largest growers in the region for nurseries and landscaping. Once he retired from the business side of things, he stopped growing a zillion things for commercial use and really concentrated on his gardens.”
   After Klein died in 1998, the site was in danger of being developed for the booming housing market that thrives now in the Louisville bedroom community just north of the state’s largest city.
   “Luckily a group of people here knew the significance of this property, and they were able to purchase it in 2002,” Cappiello said. “In addition to being a gardener, Klein was a local historian and, in the end, the Oldham County Historical Society was instrumental in saving his property.”
   And, as Cappiello’s son noted, there is a castle.
   “Klein was a craftsman,” Cappiello said.  “He built most of the structures. He worked in stone, iron and wood. While he never apprenticed in these things, he was the type of person who could look at a picture and say to himself, ‘I can do that.’ And then he would.”
  In addition to Klein’s home, which now serves as Yew Dell’s offices, he built a pool house that resembled a medieval castle, a corn crib, a bi-level livestock barn and numerous other outbuildings on about 33 acres. A pet cemetery rests beside the corn crib with tombstones undoubtedly carved by Klein himself. One reads: “Mildred.  1974-1986.”
   And Klein also did a bit of gardening.
   Yew Dell features numerous varieties of horticultural delights, including some that harken back to historic English gardens that remain popular today. There is a Secret Garden, a Walled Garden, a Serpentine Garden made up of evergreens, a Sunken Garden and a Sign Garden. Last fall, volunteers working with noted horticulturist Adrian Bloom added a Bloom Garden in the pasture beneath the main property.
   The Secret Garden is not so secret today as Cappiello and his volunteers have removed a hedgerow that had grown up around it. You pass through a stunning archway of hollies to find its opening, and a few of Yew Dell’s 350 active volunteers were out in early March tending to its hearty ferns and hellebores when I visited.
   Yew Dell is known for its beech trees.  There are 20 types growing there, including European Weeping beeches that almost appear to be growing from the top down as their branches cascade to the earth below.
   As we surveyed the trees, Cappiello pointed out a trio of tall firs across the way.
“Those are Cedars of Lebanon. You don’t expect to see those in Kentucky.”
   Klein’s livestock barn has been renovated as meeting space and a new outdoor pavilion has been added to accommodate larger groups. Now known officially as Gheens Barn and Peyton Samuel Head Trust Pavilion, the structures are becoming popular for corporate retreats and weddings.
   School and gardening groups are also coming to Yew Dell in growing numbers.  A great time for a first visit might be the Sixth Annual Plant Sale and Garden Market, April 26-27. Adult non-members will pay $7, seniors $5, and children under12 will be admitted at no charge.
   There’s not much pretense about Cappiello or Yew Dell.
   “We tell people, ‘You’ll see the good, the bad and the ugly,’ he said. “We don’t have the ‘back forty’ that large gardens have where we can experiment off-site. And it works because our audience is the general public. We’re not so overwhelming that people feel like they can’t go back home and do what we’re doing.”
   And Cappiello, his staff and volunteers are only getting started.
   “Yew Dell is just a perfect canvas,” he said. “What we’ve been able to do here, thanks to our many volunteers, has exceeded all our expectations.  We’ve grown faster regionally, nationally and internationally, than any of us could have hoped for.”

I F   Y O U   G O

Yew Dell Gardens is located in Crestwood, about 20 minutes north of Louisville via U.S. 146 or Interstate 71. It is open Monday-Saturday year-round except for holidays.    For more information visit www.yewdellgardens.org on the Internet or call 502-241-4788.

By Mac Lacy
SPECIAL TO KENTUCKY FARM BUREAU