By Cynthia Kerson, UC Master Gardener of Napa County
Several Napa County Master Gardeners recently traversed a long drive of sycamore and olive trees to visit the Trefethen Family Vineyards gardens in Napa with the winery’s landscape manager, Vanessa Giampaoli, a Master Gardener trained in the Class of 2023.
Vanessa joined Trefethen about 18 months ago, after the former landscape manager retired. She and her staff—currently one full-time and one part-time gardener--manage the 5 ½ acres that were originally designed and nurtured by Katie Trefethen in the 1970s. Katie was an avid gardener; in fact, she started the first Napa Garden Club.
Vanessa still starts seed for plants in Katie’s original garden shed. She starts all annual plants from seed or propagates them from cuttings. The only plants she purchases are small trees. We met at the front of the original winery building, which was built in the late 1800s, and were greeted by a charming burst of color from marigolds, daisies, dahlias and alyssum amongst an antique saw and used oak barrels.
We walked through the gates toward the family’s original homestead and into a wonderland of beauty. To the right, after the redwood grove, we came to a garden of oregano, rosemary and lavender that enticed both our olfactory and visual senses. Sprinkled into this gorgeous sensory array was Campanula rapunculoides, commonly known as creeping bellflower.
The gardens yield flowers, fruits and vegetables with the intent to provide food for all, from bees
to visitors to staff. What isn’t used by the winery chef is generously given to the staff. Vanessa graciously prepared a snack of the most delicious blackberries trellised along a garden row. In the next rows were peppers, melons, cucumbers and tomatoes of all kinds, including micro tomatoes no bigger than a large pea – and delicious.
Every fall the gardeners remove the vegetables and irrigation systems and install a cover crop to
restore nutrients to the soil. When the cover crop matures, they mow it down and reinstall the
drip systems before planting the next crop. Alongside the vegetable garden and convenient to the chef’s kitchen is the herb garden, which hosts English thyme, sage, French tarragon, oregano, lemon verbena and more.
All in all, the visit was educational and inspiring. Vanessa manages the property with mindfulness for the land’s healthy future and with respect for Katie Trefethen’s vision and talent. Best of all, she says she owes much of her understanding of horticulture to her Master Gardener training.
All photos by the author, Cynthia Kerson.
Fall Clean-Up: Join UC Master Gardeners for the annual fall clean-up at the Las Flores Learning Garden on Saturday, October 25, from 10 am to noon. The garden is at 4300 Linda Vista Avenue in Napa. We’ll be putting gardens to bed for the winter. Learn healthy gardening practices by working alongside Master Gardeners in the low-water, native, pollinator and succulent gardens. Register here.
Library Talk: Join UC Master Gardeners for a free talk on “Growing Garlic, Onions, and Other Alliums” on Thursday, November 6, from 7 pm to 8 pm via Zoom. Garlic can be planted as we enter the darkest time of year; other alliums get planted throughout the seasons. Register here to get the Zoom link.
Help Desk: The Master Gardener Help Desk is available to answer your garden questions on Mondays and Fridays from 10 am until 1 pm at the University of California Cooperative Extension Office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa. Or send your questions to mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. Include your name, address, phone number and a brief description of the problem.