Scott and Nancy McDonald laugh as she tells about the first fruit their apple tree produced. After several years of waiting patiently, a small green knob finally appeared and they watched it closely as it ripened.

One day, Nancy approached the tree and was shocked to see a squirrel with the apple in its mouth. But she wasn’t allowing any thieving squirrel to get that apple. She chased him down until he dropped his prize, then washed it and cut away the bite mark. She says she enjoyed it even more after the challenge.

This brand of patience paid off when the McDonalds bought their home on the corner of E. Kilpatrick and Wigley in 2012. The 1935 red brick Tudor Revival house was attractive but in need of renovation to make it a comfortable home.

The McDonalds undertook a year long process to keep, but refine, the original charm of the house before they could move in.

They then turned their attention to the yard. The original stone and mortar retaining wall hindered the installation of a sprinkler system, so it was taken apart and the stones used elsewhere on the property.

After designing new curving beds around the house, Scott replaced the lawn with new sod. When a wood fence featuring lattice work around the top was built to enclose the back yard, invasive English ivy was found nearby.  Today, the ivy is gone and, in its place, are new heritage rose bushes such as “Peggy Martin.”

Peach, fig, almond and plum trees followed, then beds full of colorful blooms. Recently, Scott designed new, larger curved beds, and the McDonalds asked Hooten’s in Emory to select flowering plants appropriate for an English garden.

The result is a delightful blend including lambs ear, blanket flowers, dwarf abelia, dwarf hydrangeas, daisies, penta, coneflowers and rosemary to name a few.

They’ve had their challenges with moles, gophers and “ant highways” in their lawn.  They’ve tried nets on their fruit trees to keep the birds from pecking holes in the fruit, but decided a “live and let live” approach was more practical.

Birdbaths nestle in the flowerbeds, while the deep tones of Nancy’s large wind chimes (a gift from Scott) soothe and energize as Scott mows and edges and Nancy weeds.

The McDonalds say they’ve always enjoyed gardening, inspired by visiting the vast acres of gardens in England, but got a crash course after buying a Victorian bed and breakfast years ago. They put in a parterre garden with boxwoods and a cast iron gazebo with filigree dome. They succeeded in creating a formal garden so appealing that several prospective grooms proposed to their fiancees there. Their current landscape can surely match that appeal.

Mineola’s Fannie Marchman Garden Club announces the McDonald home as October Yard of the Month.