Who would have thought that buying a garden shed would lead to national exposure for two local gardeners?
Thanks to Camille Bondi's shed, her garden and that of Mark Meaders, both of Squirrel Hill, are scheduled to be featured in a 2001 issue of Country Living magazine.
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| Mark Meaders, walks down the steps to his backyard garden, which includes three ponds. His house is in the background. Country Living magazine photographed his garden for a future issue. (Joyce Mendelsohn, Post-Gazette) | |
Bondi's husband, Richard, bought her the shed, which was constructed by Amish craftsmen and delivered to her home on the back of a big truck. When it was finished, the couple took pictures of it and sent them back to the manufacturer. The manufacturer sent the pictures to Pamela Mullen Abrahams, a former Pittsburgh resident who is senior home-building and architecture editor at Country Living magazine.
Abrahams liked the garden she saw. She also wanted to get back to Pittsburgh, so she called Bondi and set up a photo shoot for a story, tentatively titled "Country Gardens in the City." She asked Bondi to recommend another garden in the area to share the spotlight with hers. Bondi suggested Meaders' nearby garden, which she had seen during a garden tour. It was that simple.
Abrahams, who now resides in New York, says she was delighted with the results of the shoot and the quality of the gardens she saw here.
"We were very pleased. They are terrific gardens," she says. "They are some of the best gardens I've seen. Both of these people are so passionate and packed so many wonderful flowers in, in a very original way, and they both did opposite things."
Bondi's garden, which is mostly shade, is filled with plants, arbors and pergolas. Meaders, for his part, left the center of his sunny yard open as grass area and planted the borders, constructing pathways throughout. Meaders also has three ponds on his property.
When Bondi received the call, she became very nervous. For several weeks before the appointed date, she worked outside. She even had her 88-year-old mother spreading sand in the bricks to get ready, and another friend, a master gardener, lent a hand. She says she did an entire summer's worth of work in one month.
Finally, Richard Bondi said, "You can't tweak it anymore, Camille."
And while the experience was a good one, Bondi was glad when it was all over. Then she took advantage of having her garden in top form by having a couple of dinner parties.
Meaders was a little bit more low-key in his approach.
"I didn't do anything special because I figure that my garden is my garden, and everything I do is something I enjoy. It's sort of like therapy," he says.
He might have weeded a few extra days (because you can never get rid of all the weeds). He also did some things earlier than he might have otherwise, such as tying up perennials. Other than that, it was gardening as usual.
Abrahams told him she might bring some pots to fill in bare spots.
"I had to laugh," he says, "because I don't have any bare spots."
Of course, Abrahams was going into Meaders' garden unseen on the recommendation of Bondi. As it ended up, no additions were needed. They did style a little bit, setting Meaders' lawn chairs and table just so, with a nice linen tablecloth and napkins.
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| Pamela Mullen Abrahams, senior editor/home-building and architecture with Country Living magazine, bends to pick an ant off a flower petal as New York photographer William P. Steele positions his camera in Camille Bondi's garden. (Joyce Mendelsohn, Post-Gazette) | |
"You really can't fake a whole garden," says Abrahams.
They did have the luxury of waiting for the proper time to photograph, when lots of things were blooming. The magazine works about a year ahead.
The photo session took place over two days in June. Both Bondi's and Meaders' gardens were shot during the morning and late afternoon, the best time to get pictures in the garden, according to Abrahams, who is a gardener herself.
Neither gardener has seen any of the resulting pictures. Abrahams says that if the photos are used, and she's pretty sure they will be, both gardeners will receive credit if they want it; some prefer to remain anonymous. The city will also be mentioned -- no small thing, because the magazine has a readership of about 11 or 12 million, according to Abrahams.
In the future, Abrahams hopes to return to Pittsburgh and photograph more gardens that are appropriate for the magazine, which espouses informal, country-style gardens. But if you are selected, don't expect a big payday. Neither gardener was financially compensated.
"We like people to think that even though their spaces aren't that big, they can get a country look," says Abrahams. "They don't have to live out in the country to have a country garden."
