Local green thumbs take talents to Westchester

As you arrive at the Westchester property, you’re greeted with tall trees, colorful flowers and vibrantly green grass.

The property is a hidden paradise, of sorts. The entrance is bordered by pigmy palms, orange bromeliads and coontie, and the pool is lined with pink hibiscus and Carissa. But it didn’t always look like that. Over the past eight years, four residents have worked to give the property a tropical vibe.

“We’re a small community of people,” Freddie Baribault said. “Our whole goal is, this is our home, and we want it to be a beautiful garden and to enjoy it.”

Before the hard work of Baribault, Conrad Wiet, Carol Rhoder and Bonnie Cocchiaraley, the only landscaping Baribault recalls are random houseplants that would wilt when residents ventured back north for the summer. There was no general landscaping.

Cocchiaraley said she missed gardening in New York and wanted to find something creative to do here. She had a friend who was a landscape architect who visited and walked through the property explaining what could work. Although she wasn’t an expert on plant material, the artist had an eye for design and sketched out ideas. That has been the blueprint, with few modifications, for the four garden-enthusiasts’ work over the past decade.

“We’re constantly adding plants,” Baribault said. “We have 365 days of summer here, and plants have a lifetime and after awhile, you have to replace and renew, so it’s a constant maintenance to keep everything happy.”

More than 100 trees, from ficus to various palms, span the 7.5 acres. 

Agave plants border Westchester’s beach access. Two large planters sit on either side of the pool entrance. The group, which is allotted a small budget each year, has worked with two landscaping companies since the start of the transformation. Until the fall, they worked with Landscape in Paradise, which the group agreed brought a lot of good ideas to their property. They now work with P & L Lawn Maintenance.

They don’t use a lot of plants from the North because those require more water, and the group already has multiple challenges related to the local conditions — saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico and sand, which makes up most of their landscape. 

Storms in February caused some wind damage to the plants and brought more saltwater onto the property. Baribault said it took them a lot of time to find the right plant for the right location. They redid the Indian Hawthorn along the pool three times before it took.

“It’s trial and error,” Baribault said. “You never know how it’s going to turn out.”

But despite the obstacles, the property is blooming with color, and it seems to be a hit among the residents. 

As Baribault walks around the property explaining the plants and future plans, a resident  stops her to tell her how nice the landscaping looks. The smile on Baribault’s face says it all — her hard work, along with the other green thumbs, has paid off.