Jaynie Appleseed

When I see someone that wants something, I’ll say ‘Come on over, let’s go shopping in my backyard’.”

Jayne Roberts

Audio

Jaynie Appleseed_Allie Johnson.mp3

Ask residents on the 4000 block of Pleasant Avenue South and its surrounding streets about their yard, and you’ll likely hear the same name come up over and over: Jayne Roberts.
Since moving into the neighborhood “somewhere between 26 and 28 springs ago,” Roberts, a longtime horticulturist, has been generously donating her time, expertise, and many, many plants to help her neighbors transform their own yards and gardens.
Nowhere is this more evident than the boulevard garden in front of three houses along the 4000 block of Grand Avenue South. Two years ago, following the completion of the city’s Grand Avenue reconstruction project, the boulevard was just a dirt patch. Today, it is a thriving garden with perennial plants like peonies, yarrow, and Russian sage, that bloom at various times throughout the spring, summer, and fall.
The empty boulevard was a “blank canvas,” Roberts, 68, said. She got to talking with two people who lived on the street, Joe Hyser and his next-door neighbor Gloria Kittock, who wanted to plant some perennials in that spot, rather than letting the city put down grass. Roberts told them what to plant – and provided the plants herself – and together they built what is now a beautiful, flowering garden.
Hyser said the garden, with its variety of beautiful plants and colors ranging from blue and purple to yellow and white, is an “instant conversation starter.”
“It’s amazing how many people stop and look at it,” Roberts added. “The biggest joy I get is watching people stop and look. That’s the best thing about the garden is it makes somebody take their precious time and stop and hopefully take their mind off their troubles.”
Roberts is well known throughout the neighborhood as the go-to person for yard-related questions, and she happily shares her wealth of knowledge of trees and plants. People will approach her when they see her out-and-about or come knock on her door. On more than one occasion, she has come home to find a note in her mailbox from a neighbor seeking advice about what to put in their yard.
“I’ve got people who will come to my door and say ‘Hey Jayne, something’s wrong with my tree, can you come over and help me?’ and I’ll say, ‘Yeah, let’s walk over and see what’s going on’,” Roberts said.
“She’s my expert,” said Hyser. “Every neighborhood has to have someone like [Jayne].”
Roberts jokingly referred to herself as “Jaynie Appleseed,” but the moniker rings true. Walk the blocks surrounding Roberts’ house in the Kingfield neighborhood and you will see dozens of trees and perennial plants that she has helped plant over the years with the help of her trusty spade, nicknamed Hector.
“That one was no bigger than my thumb when we planted it,” Roberts said, pointing to an English oak in one yard that now towers over 15 feet.
Through her day job as a horticulture sales representative, she gets lots of samples of new varieties of trees and plants, which she gives away to her neighbors.
“I get the new stuff maybe two years before they hit the market and I want to see how they do so I find yards and gardens to put these plants in so I can see them for my own enjoyment,” she said. “When I see someone that wants something, I’ll say ‘Come on over, let’s go shopping in my backyard’.”
She also gives trees as housewarming gifts to new neighbors on her own street, Pleasant Avenue.
Kittock said Roberts is an all-around good neighbor, who, in addition to sharing plants and knowledge, also picks up trash in the alley and helps more elderly members of the neighborhood.
“She doesn’t need or expect anything in return. She’s just a generous person who likes to do the right thing by her neighbors,” said Kittock. “I’m just thankful to have her as a neighbor.”