How Her Garden Grows: Cindy Bolz
Cindy Bolz is The Queen of Japanese Maples. When most gardeners go to a plant nursery, it is to choose a tree to replace an old one that died, to purchase perennials for a new section in their garden, or perhaps to pick up a couple of flats of seasonal annual color. But for Dallas County Master Gardener Cindy Bolz (Class of 2013), buying another Japanese Maple for her garden is done with great purpose and always with the goal of increasing her ever-growing collection of these highly ornamental trees universally loved by gardeners and non-gardeners alike.
For Cindy, it all began with the acquisition of a single tree, fatefully and coincidentally purchased on September 11, 2001. While almost everyone remembers where they were on 9/11, that date stands out to Cindy also as the beginning of her remarkable collection, which has now grown to forty specimens of Japanese Maples representing thirty-five different species or varieties.
Her “first love” was an Acer palmatum ‘Garnet,’ spied in a garden center in Dallas. It was a two-foot tall specimen with lacy red leaves “like nothing I had ever seen,” recalls Cindy, who purchased the tree and carefully transported it to its new home in her back yard. Despite the major setback of having lost the top half of the tree to the playful chewing of her new puppy, that tree survived and is now eight feet tall in her garden.
Cindy’s backyard is an oasis of colors, shapes, and textures including some sculptural pieces she created.
Ever the avid collector, Cindy now maintains a “want list” of the varieties that she would most like to acquire when they become available to her at the various plant nurseries in the region that she frequents. Scoring a “find” on her list is cause for great excitement!
Unlike many gardeners who have chosen Japanese Maples to enhance their existing gardens, Cindy started with her tree collection and built her yard around it. Reduction of lawn area was a goal, and she created large planting beds with drifts of plants, especially in very deep beds around the perimeter of her back yard.
The Bolz garden immediately imparts a sense of serenity, characteristic of Asian gardens. While the Japanese Maples are the unquestioned stars of this horticultural showplace, the background against which they are displayed is enriched by a tapestry of different colors (shades of green), leaf shapes, and foliage textures. Clearly, Cindy is naturally endowed with a very good “eye” for selecting and placing plants to best advantage in her yard.
Japanese maples are appreciated for the variety of interesting leaf shapes and the ability of most cultivars to thrive in partial or full shade as small-scale understory trees. They are especially noted for brilliant foliage colors ranging from golden yellows to oranges and reds, not only in the fall but for some varieties from the first emergence of the leaves in spring as well. Such is the spectacular yellow of Cindy’s ‘Ueno Yama’ cultivar as it is the first to leaf out in her garden every year.
In addition to Japanese-style lanterns that she has chosen to complement the Japanese garden theme, Cindy ingeniously constructs her own water features. She has also created some sculptural pieces that punctuate her landscape using repurposed stones, all inspired by the serene minimalist Japanese esthetic.
Cindy is not just a collector; she is passionate about the these trees (Acer palmatum, A. japonicum, A. shirasawanumcultivars), and she has become extremely knowledgeable about the selection and horticultural practices that make for a beautiful and successful garden conceived around her collection. In fact, she regularly contributes to the “Japanese Maples and Conifers” interest group on Facebook.
Having established herself as a consummate collector and local authority on the subject, many Dallas County Master Gardeners now consult her whenever they need advice on selection or the care of Japanese Maples.
The garden of Cindy Bolz is one of seven that will be featured on the 2022 Spring Garden Tour presented by the Dallas County Master Gardener Association on Saturday, April 30 (10am-4pm), and Sunday, May 1 (1-5pm).
