A Winter Visit to the Garden of Mike Curran

The term ‘Plant Collector’ conjures up images of plants in tidy rows or planted in botanically segregated groups, all with official labels…you don’t think “Garden.” That is until you visit the garden of Mike Curran. Mike is a plant collector with a designer’s eye, surrounded by the conifers he acquires like an art collector who lives within an art gallery or museum. Unlike a gallery or museum, these unique art pieces are living things rooted in their positions with individual requirements that, if unmet, can mean decline or death.

No pressure.

Fear not-the collection is in very competent hands. Mike is the leading Conifer expert for St. Louis and beyond…clients depend on him from as far away as Chicago and Indiana. His headquarters is Timberwinds Nursery (www.timberwindsnursery.com) which he purchased in 2017 after managing it for years when it was then called, Summerwinds. Before that, he ran his own landscape business.

Mike started his present garden in 2000, bringing 37 plants with him from a previous home to his current home in Chesterfield. The collection boasts over 300 plants, the majority being conifers.

The house and sprawling planting beds sit dramatically at a fork between two typical subdivision roads commanding attention. Undoubtedly, every car slows down and takes it all in-especially on a snowy day. The scene spans an entire windshield like a stage set for a winter theatrical production of White Christmas or the “Chronicles of Narnia.”

Since most plants in the garden are woody or conifers, maintenance is minimal compared to most gardens. Mulching is done once a year, and weekly maintenance is 2-3 hours a week with the help of Mike Curran Jr..

Many conifers in the collection were handpicked in Oregon on one of many buying trips-a great job perk when you own a nursery and are hunting for other plant geeks. The variety of shapes and colors is mind-boggling on the hillside-Mike’s favorite part of the garden. Stones play among the plants, setting off textures ranging from fine and feathery to bold and broad. Plans may include incorporating a water feature along the natural slope, the only thing Mike wishes he would have done differently.

Mike’s garden has been featured on the American Conifer Society Tour and numerous local Garden Club tours. St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles Magazine, and Conifer Digest also featured this spectacular collection.