Building Gardens Stone By Stone

Building Gardens Stone By Stone
Story By Gretchen Bergen
Photo By Byron Hetzler

Danny Pufpaff doesn’t do round flower beds. “It’s not a campfire,” he says. And when building stone walls, he takes pains to ensure the rocks don’t look like they “just fell off a truck.”

Danny might not use highbrow design terms, but he sure knows his stuff. A former stone mason, Danny applies his nitty-gritty expertise and “artsy-craftsy” style to build gardens that look like something Mother Nature dreamed up.

In a garden Danny created behind his home, dry-stacked rock walls ensconce a terraced garden where flowers, plants and bushes thrive all summer long. It’s a natural-looking conglomeration of honeysuckle, crawling red geraniums, silver-leafed snow-in-summer, purple delphiniums, yellow potentilla, and bee-friendly cat mint. Twisted pieces of driftwood add to the many interesting shapes and textures.

The west-facing slope gets plenty of sun during the day. To keep irrigation to a minimum, Danny selected shrubs and perennials he knew could tolerate dry conditions — like icy-green lamb’s ear, yarrow, bachelor buttons, sedum and shasta daisies. The garden has mostly perennials with annuals playing a supporting role. Danny works the soil every month to make sure water and nutrients can get to the roots, and to incorporate seeds that naturally fall from the plants. He also places rocks throughout his gardens. “Because plants love rocks.”

Sedum is his favorite. The dome-like heads bloom with dozens of starry pink flowers. Stronger than weeds or grass, sedum helps keep the garden looking shipshape. And it grows just about anywhere, Danny says. “Very often I’ll just plug in sedum into the cracks of a rock wall I’m building.”

Flowers growing in cracks and crevices give the Pufpaff’s garden a natural look. Danny’s wife, Chris, points out Johnny jump-ups poking through the brick pathway and says, “This is what I love.” Red yarrow and other flowers grow among the romaine and leaf lettuce, broccoli, peas and carrots. Chris warns that you have to plant broccoli and cauliflower settings — not seeds. “Because our growing season is too short up here,” she says.

One look at the handcrafted rock walls and it’s easy to see Danny is an expert. “You have to think about the structure, and keep it natural-looking,” Danny explains. He forms flower beds in the shape of amoebas and stone walls that curve. “I really focus on making curves,” he says. “It’s more aesthetic to the eye. We always say, ‘Make it pretty, make it artsy-craftsy.’”

Leading from the garden, another stone wall curls around a flagstone patio for privacy. “We are only five minutes from Fraser but you feel very secluded,” Danny says.

The 5-foot-tall moss rock walls give Danny and Chris a peaceful haven where they keep potted
plants and outdoor art. In fact, the Pufpaffs exchanged wedding vows here 11 years ago. A stone table makes the perfect place for drinks or dinner beside the lilac, choke cherry and sand cherry bushes.

Danny built their backyard garden two years ago, but it looks like it might have been growing here forever. It took him a summer-and-a-half to construct the walls, steps, sidewalks and bring in dirt. Once Danny retired from ski coaching, friends began asking him to work on their gardens. So, with more time on his hands, Danny gradually got into the landscaping business. “When I was working in masonry, people wanted me to plant trees and flowers. So then I had to learn the names for everything.”

When Danny designs a garden, he starts with rocks. Gigantic moss rocks are the star of the show in a garden Danny recently created for Dick and Kate Davis near Tabernash. He brought in the rocks then mixed up some “great dirt” so Kate could plant whatever she wanted without having to amend the soil.

With more people building vacation homes in Grand County, Danny’s watering and gardening service is in high demand. Danny’s clients include a mix of locals and new residents who usually become repeat customers, adding to their yards and gardens year after year. He recently hired three workers and bought a tractor and back hoe so he can take on more projects. Chris keeps the books and waters gardens when she isn’t working for the National Sports Center for the Disabled.

Inside Danny and Chris’s home they grow their second garden. Hundreds of plants in every shape and size have taken over the sun room. In the open living room area, tall gallery walls show off Danny and Chris’s large art collection.

Danny has lived in the Winter Park area for the past 22 years. After losing a leg in the Vietnam War, he started competing on the National Disabled Ski Team. He skied competitively for 14 years and then moved on to coaching. Now, after years of teaching ski camps and coaching, Danny is back to competing.

Here’s another bit of gardening wisdom you’ll only hear from Danny — you can’t keep a garden without a cat. He points to a gigantic black-and-white cat stalking away from the house. “He eats voles like they’re cupcakes.”