On the corner of Watkins and Robinson in Conway sits a lovely house surrounded by an equally beautiful garden. Beth Horton-Zinn and her husband, Pete Zinn, own the home and bragging rights for the immaculate space.
Beth is quick to educate when it comes to differentiating between a yard and a garden. She tells the story about how one day she was peeking over a fence and noticed a lovely yard and asked a man working in it if it was his yard. He responded, “This is my garden. A yard is for pigs.” Clearly, after entering Beth and Pete’s garden, visitors will immediately see the difference.
Both their front and back garden displays a green thumb and attention to detail. Large, cushion-like shrubbery greets guests as they wind through the white picket fence. Healthy trees and a variety of flowers cover the front garden. A shallow brick wall outlines the front area, while a high fence adds privacy to the back garden.
“We think it’s charming,” Beth says as she looks around. After stepping into the space, it’s easy to forget the house is located in a downtown area. It’s peaceful, quiet, and completely calming. “It’s simple, not grand,” Beth said as she waved her hand in the direction of the garden. An inviting swimming pool is located right off the porch and outdoor furniture is placed in a variety of angles around it. Beth explained that Pete recently made the Adirondack chairs.
On any given day, the couple can be seen working together in the garden. “We work three to four hours a day, all year, except when it’s beastly cold,” Beth says with a smile. She continues to light up as she talks about Pete and how he is always willing to help. “It’s a joy to me to have Pete turn to me, after completing something in the garden and say, ‘what’s next?’”
The couple has been married for almost six years and enjoys working side by side. Although every day at 5 p.m., the pruning and planting ceases for their daily Scrabble game.
Their chemistry is seen in the garden and felt throughout. Beth describes her garden as ‘Early Conway’ and explains how the area where the house and garden now sits used to be a vacant space, an empty canvas. Upon further discussion, she reveals that is she is an artist and soon the pieces fall into place. The complimenting color palate, serene flow of flowers, and the arrangement point to an artist’s touch.
But, like an artist, Beth has discovered what works and what doesn’t. Beth stressed that it’s important to “grow with your garden.” She said that if something didn’t grow or bloom, in her plot of ground, she would dig it up and start over. Tending to a garden in Arkansas also presents an obstacle. “There is humidity, bugs and fungus. It takes time. [Things]w will grow if they like where they are,” she explains. Beth said amateur gardeners’ biggest mistake usually is that they expect everything instantly. “It needs to look small in the beginning. Don’t over-crowd. Be relaxed, have fun,” she advises.
Clearly, Beth has taken her own advice and planted for the future, not just five years down the road. For example, when she first started her garden, the dogwoods she planted were as big as her arm, now they are tall and provide shade. The garden is home to blooming daffodils, black-eyed Susans and growing crate myrtles.
Underneath a dogwood tree sits one of Beth’s most treasured pieces, her great grandfather’s head stone. She explained that she brought the headstone to her garden to prevent it from being vandalized at a cemetery in Greenbrier.
Another piece of advice she offers fellow gardeners: “Get dirty.” Beth said she cannot wait to get home, roll up her sleeves, and start digging in the dirt. Pete and Beth do all of the maintenance themselves, except that Kenneth Anderson Jr., with Anderson Lawns, and James Dunigan mow and weed eat the property.
“It’s ongoing, but we have it how we want it. We add a little every year,” said Beth. “I have a motto: The garden: I need it and it needs me.”
In the beginning, she said she tweaked, studied, and learned a lot about design and horticulture. Her dad was an avid vegetable gardener, which explains her love for growing things and inherited green thumb. Beth read books about gardening and even joined a garden club. “I’m self taught, because I love it,” she stated. She also taught herself to paint. When she visited art galleries with friends, she told them, “I can do that!” So one day, about ten years ago, she went to an art supply store and followed through on her decree. “I thought, I better do it now,” she said.
Similar to her garden, Beth has grown because she likes where she’s at, at home, with her husband, creating a masterpiece.