JEFF EPPING BIO
Jeff's passion for plants and gardening is reflected in his 35-year career as an award-winning horticulturist and garden designer. During his 28 years as Director of Horticulture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, he transformed a lawn-laden landscape into a nationally acclaimed public garden, known for its artistic and innovative, plant-driven designs and ecologically sound gardening techniques. Alongside that role, he also ran his own design and consulting business for 25 years and continues to do so today. Epping Design & Consulting specializes in eco-conscious gardening guidance and designs for projects ranging from small private gardens to large public landscapes and expansive business campuses.
Jeff shares his expertise through classes, workshops, tours, and lectures. His insightful writing has been featured in leading gardening publications like Fine Gardening, Martha Stewart Living and Better Homes and Gardens, and his work has been recognized by The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others. Beyond print, he's also contributed to radio, television, online videos, and podcasts. He has received prestigious awards from both the American Public Gardens Association and the Perennial Plant Association, honoring his significant contributions to horticulture.
Jeff's new book, published by Timber Press, entitled The Gravel Garden: Visionary, Drought-Defying, Naturalistic Designs, is available now from bookstores.
You can learn more about Jeff and his book at jeffepping.com.
SHOW NOTES
Growing up as one of seven kids on family land with a farmer grandfather, exploring woodlands, creeks, and climbing bur oaks
Early exposure to a big vegetable garden, selling strawberries and sweet corn roadside, and gardening with his mom
BS and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin, followed by five years at Chicago Botanic Garden
Taking the Olbrich Botanical Gardens director of horticulture job on a whim after his professor's encouragement
28 years at Olbrich building gardens one at a time before stepping aside for a new director
Early design influence from touring English gardens with the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society
Developing gardens only as fast as they could be properly maintained, guided by right plant, right place
The realization that hiring passionate, creative horticulturists and giving them ownership was key to Olbrich's success
First exposure to gravel gardening on a visit to Beth Chatto's garden in England
Watching Roy Diblik's gravel garden at Northwind Perennial Farm, itself inspired by Cassian Schmidt
Olbrich's first gravel garden built in 2009 with Roy Diblik's help, followed by three more over the years
Nearly 25 years of parallel work designing gravel and other gardens at Epic Systems, including a three-acre gravel garden over a parking structure
Researching his book revealed that gravel gardening substrates vary widely, from pure gravel to gravel mixed with sand and soil
His own method: a five- to six-inch layer of angular, quarter-inch washed chip gravel over existing soil
Comparing gravel's air spaces to marbles in a jar as the mechanism that suppresses weeds
Fertile garden soil described as essentially a weed seed bed for aggressive agricultural weeds
Contrasting his low-input approach with Cassian Schmidt's and Lisa Roper's more soil-amended, reseeding style at Chanticleer
Lisa Roper's gravel garden praised as artistic but higher-maintenance due to managed reseeding
Recommending beginners start small, in a bordered space like between a sidewalk and driveway
Always creating a solid edge for gravel gardens, with a lip a few inches above grade to retain the gravel
Removing spent plant material each year but tucking stems into other garden areas so overwintering insects can still emerge
Plants generate plenty of organic matter through root turnover alone, without needing fertilizer
Choosing a sunny site free of trees, since tree litter over time can turn gravel into a weedy, organic-rich mix
Not needing to excavate the whole gravel garden footprint, only tapering the edge down before filling with gravel
Using stakes marked at five and six inches to keep gravel depth consistent during installation
Sourcing the widest plant palette from native prairie species suited to dry to mesic conditions
Using plant spacing of roughly 15 to 18 inches on center as a general rule
Preferring smaller 3.5- to 4-inch pots over gallon containers for cost and easier planting depth
Planting technique: setting roots at gravel/soil interface, molding root balls, and backfilling gravel around the crown
Peeling off the top inch or two of potting soil before planting to remove dormant weed seeds, a tip learned from Roy Diblik
Watering new plantings frequently at first, then gradually weaning them off supplemental water as roots establish
Rainwater in gravel gardens filtering straight down to root zones, unlike mulch that can shed heavier rain
Referencing European designers' technique of small planting divots to capture rainfall for xeric plantings
Spring cleanup as the main yearly maintenance task, timed to when bulbs are just emerging
Cutting stems into 18-inch to two-foot bundles and relocating them elsewhere in the garden for insect emergence
Raking and blowing debris out of the gravel to prevent organic matter buildup, the system's biggest threat
Weeds in gravel gardens mostly emerging from windblown seed lodged in plant crowns rather than through the gravel itself
Some plants, like Echinacea purpurea, lodging or shrinking over time depending on rainfall and site fertility
Andrew Bunting's approach of stripping and re-amending soil with grit to reduce fertility and control aggressive weeds
Shallow-rooted plants like creeping sedums and sempervivums fading out because they can't root deeply enough into gravel
Key reference books: The Vegetation of Wisconsin and Neil Diboll's The Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants
Leaning on a network of fellow horticulturists, newsletters, and podcasts to keep learning
Sean Conway's garden and Knepp Castle's Walled Garden cited as favorites for their formal vertical elements within naturalistic plantings
Knepp's Walled Garden using varied substrates like crushed concrete and brick, plus depressions and ridges, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith and James Hitchmough
Reintroducing boxwoods into his own gravel garden for structure near the entry
Reliable gravel garden plants: Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed), Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama) and Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama grass), Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem), Salvia yangii (Russian sage), and Calamintha nepeta (calamint)
Regional substitutions like Nassella tenuissima (Mexican feather grass) and Muhlenbergia capillaris (muhly grass) performing well in warmer zones
Dan Pearson's use of Mediterranean plants at Sissinghurst's Delos garden as English summers grow hotter and drier
Addressing critiques about the embodied energy and transport costs of importing gravel
Comparing gravel gardens favorably to the ongoing energy costs of lawns, annual mulching, fertilizing, and irrigation in conventional gardens
Epic Systems, a 2,000-plus-acre, 13,000-employee healthcare software campus with heavily themed buildings and gardens
Underground parking structures at Epic saving roughly 90 acres of surface lot space
Epic's founder Judy Faulkner wanting a beautiful campus to help recruit talent to Wisconsin
Epic's landscape evolving over the years from more lawn toward prairie and meadow plantings
Core design principles: starting with woody structure first, then layering in perennials
Emphasizing full-site analysis of sun, shade, and drainage before placing any plant
Teaching design by asking not just whether a garden is beautiful but why, to build critical observation skills
Letting go of rigid color-palette rules in favor of designing for site-adapted, resilient plantings
A recurring gardening frustration: construction practices that damage or kill mature trees through root compaction and grade changes
Advocating for introducing children early to gardening and to insects to build comfort and curiosity
Mentoring interns at Olbrich, several of whom changed majors and career paths after being introduced to horticulture
New book, Gravel Gardens, co-authored with Teresa Woodard with photography by Bob Stefko, profiling 20-plus gardens
You can learn more about Jeff and his book at jeffepping.com.
KEEP GROWING
