Photo by Erin Nelson.
From left: Lindsay Hugghins, Lynn Luckianow, David Lorberbaum, Miss Sims’ Garden caretaker Amy Weis, City Engineer Cale Smith and Jimmy Honeycutt at Miss Sims’ Garden in Homewood.
Now under the management of a new nonprofit, Miss Sims' Garden will soon receive multiple upgrades as part of a capital improvement plan.
The garden’s manager, Amy Weis, said the nonprofit was created last year in order to protect the legacy of the garden’s founder, Catherine Anville Sims, as well as allow the garden to be used as a botanical park for public enjoyment and education.
When Weis took over in July 2018, it didn’t take long before she knew more needed to be done at the garden. In October 2018, she began creating a capital improvement plan. The need to have a master plan was part of the reason Weis was brought on as the first full-time manager of the garden, she previously told The Homewood Star.
“It wasn’t really working before. There’s only so much you can accomplish pulling weeds and mowing and weed eating and blowing. You need to actually have a plan or just maintenance isn’t enough,” Weis said. “It was always limited to what the caretakers could do in their spare time, nights and weekends.”
Much of the work focuses on landscaping and pathways. The existing pathways will be slimmed down to make it easier to navigate and ADA accessible, Weis said. An additional bathroom, the replacing of the garden shed, a new greenhouse and additional parking are also part of the plan, along with stormwater improvements, which Weis said will be “extensive.”
The stormwater improvements will hopefully “be the example of best practice in stormwater management for the city,” she said.
“In addition to the conspicuous new main pathway through the garden and a general greening up of the garden, you will notice dry creek beds, rain gardens, rain cisterns and bioswales; all things to slow down and retain as much of the run-off on the property as possible,” Weis said.
City Engineer Cale Smith said he hopes Miss Sims' Garden can be an example for the rest of the city. It’s a timely improvement, as the city of Homewood awaits the results of a stormwater study that will help outline future improvement plans.
There’s no reason those improvements can’t look good, too, Weis said.
“People … will see beautification features that are functional,” she said.
Homewood doesn’t have many shaded parks; the improvements at the garden will help create at least one, Weis said. Eventually, she said, she wants to make improvements to the house and make it more of an event space. Having the house available for events gives Weis a back-up in the case of bad weather, she said. Weis will eventually move out of the house and will be paid a salary by the nonprofit's board, she said.
In addition to those changes, Weis said she plans to restore the garden’s plants, using a 1996 inventory that shows which plants were present at the time, the “peak of her garden.”
“The list includes not only what, but where, and in some instances who gave her the plants,” Weis said. “For example, we have trillium from Miss Bridges of the Pink House fame, a boxwood from Mount Vernon and a pink rose from Ouita Fritshi. I will use that to reestablish the glory of the garden from Catherine’s time.”
David Lorberbaum, who sits on the garden’s board and works as a landscape architect, said under Weis’s leadership, there is a consistency with the plans, an adherence to Sims’ vision, something that was missing under prior caretakers.
Sims was a “very generous woman” who knew her home could be a positive space for the community to come and enjoy, said former neighbor Lynn Luckianow. Each year, Sims, affectionately known as the “Plant Lady,” would hold a plant sale. And if you visited her home, she’d make sure you left with plants or seeds.
The garden is a way to honor her legacy, Weis said. The board is now working on a capital fundraising plan. The cost to run the garden is about $30,000 per year, and while most of that can be raised through fundraising, Weis said the garden has not had to dip into fundraising money because the Homewood City Council has provided those operating costs since 2018.
Five years ago, the estimated cost of the landscaping was about $425,000, Weis said. The city has given the garden $91,000 to help with the project. But costs have risen with the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues and inflation.
“Seeing what the city has been going through with getting bids for stormwater work, we are not too optimistic that we are going to fare any better with our bid process,” Weis said.
She sent bids out in July 2022, but it took until late in the year before two companies agreed to submit bids, the details of which were not known by press time. Those bids were only for phase one, not the entire plan. Phase one will focus on parking, improving the roadway, stormwater improvements and the reworking of the garden’s event space, which has become increasingly popular. Since Weis took over in 2018, visitation is up more than 1,000%, she said.
Improving the event space will make it easier to host a variety of functions, Weis said. Someone reached out recently wanting to have a wedding reception at the garden, but it was too small as it is, she said. The phase one changes will alleviate some of those issues, Weis said.
Photo by Erin Nelson.
Amy Weis spreads mulch in a bed of asparagus in the Grow More, Give More kitchen garden at Miss Sims’ Garden in Homewood on Jan. 11.
As of December 2022, the garden had raised about $200,000 for the project, Weis said.
But even if the total amount is not raised right away, she said the plan allows the garden to pursue improvements as the money does come in.
“We can start with phase one and at least have a significant improvement if we are unable to have a seamless project,” she said.
Weis has also spent time during her time at the garden raising funds and writing grant applications, in addition to facilitating events like the Pumpkin and Mum Sale and photos with Santa Claus during the holiday season.
“The majority of visitors are families and the majority of events we host are centered on children, families, youth and school groups,” Weis said. “Think birthday parties, boy and girl scout troops and homeschool groups. Last year we hosted the entire Hall-Kent kindergarten class for a pumpkin patch field trip. We have also catered to a lot of adult interests, such as beekeeping demonstrations, several flower arranging classes, jazz and coffee in the garden, cocktails in the garden, garden clubs, etc.”
Weis previously told The Homewood Star she wanted the garden to look like a magazine cover, like a destination seen in Southern Living or Better Homes and Garden.
“I still do, but it has to be as functional as it will be pretty,” she said. “This plan was really born out of necessity — necessity to fully realize Miss Sims’ legacy wish, yes of course — but also necessity to remediate stormwater from all the burgeoning, now realized, development uphill.”
To donate, visit gofund.me/b5e32fed or search Venmo charity accounts for sims-garden. There are also opportunities to sponsor, and prospective sponsors can email simsgarden@homewoodal.net.
