'Pinterest is my friend' -- Gardener collects ideas, provides inspiration

Marla Messersmith stands in the shaded backyard of her home at 113 East M in McCook, Nebraska. Marla enjoys landscaping with "re-imagined" treasures -- a dresser decked out with petunias ... succulents tucked into the bed of a toy truck. Sedum attracts butterflies and bees. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Neb. -- Marla Messersmith has been known to lead impromptu tours of her yard for curious walkers who pass by her family's home at 113 East M in McCook, Nebraska.

And then, recently, she hosted members of the McCook Good Earth Garden Club. Marla said she was flattered that garden club members wanted to see her yard and gardens, that they found it so interesting. Marla said that she enjoys sharing her gardening and landscaping ideas with others, just as she gleans ideas from them.

Her mother, Sundae Fritz, has been her greatest inspiration, although Marla admits that she appreciated her mother's knowledge much more after she and her husband, Shane, and their children moved into their home on East M about 11 years ago. The back yard was rocks and weeds, with rare level areas for the kids' playground equipment.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

Marla and Shane moved dirt and river rocks, dug a pit into which to sink the kids' trampoline level with the ground and built a flagstone patio. Marla created border gardens, amending the soil as needed.

Shane's interest in landscaping projects waned after the first couple years, Marla said, but hers only grew. And grew. And grew.

She's never tried to count the variety of plants in her yard; besides, she might count something twice, as she moves plants from one place to another to provide them with a better environment.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

Marla said her mother encourages her to try new things. "She says, 'Just try it. If it doesn't work out, try something else'," Marla said.

Even as she and her family travel, Marla's watching closely for landscaping and gardening ideas.

The Home and Garden television (HGTV) channel is another source of ideas, as is the Pinterest Internet idea exchange. "I like Pinterest a lot. Pinterest is my friend, my inspiration," Marla chuckles.

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

One Pinterest idea that she's used is to place a dresser -- shabby and probably headed for the landfill -- in her garden, and fill its opened drawers with plants and flowers. "I don't cover them (from the weather)," Marla said. "I leave them out until they deteriorate and then I start again with another idea."

Marla has started to add pops of blue in the accessories in her gardens, but she doesn't follow a strict color scheme. "I have no definite color scheme," Marla explains. "I like all colors."

Marla does like plants with long seasons, and is expanding into three-season plantings, adding tulips for spring and mums for the fall. She likes color and texture throughout the yard and gardens.

Marla admits that gardening and landscaping is "a process," that teaches her patience, because -- as her mother has often pointed out -- "I like instant gratification."

"Mom has always told me, 'You'll appreciate it more if you have to work for it'," Marla said.

Marla enjoys spring and summer, and the cooler temperatures of fall. She admits that winter is rough on her, and she can't wait until garden catalogs start to arrive in the mail in late winter.

"I'm by no means professional, but I love gardening and landscaping, and helping others," Marla said. "It might be my God-given talent."