Heidi Heiland’s Plymouth Garden of Eden

Photo: Emily J. Davis

Located on the border of Plymouth and Wayzata near the bank of quaint Gleason Lake, you’ll find the home of Heidi and Dan Heiland. Set back in a quiet neighborhood, the home shelters a magnificent, sprawling garden, or what Heidi Heiland likes to call, “their little slice of Eden.”

A local all her life, Heiland spent her childhood growing up in nearby Deephaven. After stints in Colorado, London and South America, she moved with her husband to their current home 12 years ago. “I just had to get back to the water,” says Heiland. The couple rebuilt the home to their tastes four years ago, including sustainable approaches like a geothermal heating and cooling system and a state-of-the-art irrigation system that uses lake water (perfect for a master gardener). Today Heiland is the owner of Heidi’s Lifestyle Gardens, which provides sustainable landscape design and year-round garden management services, while her husband specializes in hardscapes with his complementary company, Cowboy Concrete.

Heiland’s gardening experience spans the past 32 years; she started her own gardening company at just 17. So when it comes to her garden, Heiland is guided by the notion of using the right plant in the right place. “This is the best way,” she says. “I’ve been designing that way for years.” Heiland says a lot of the plants there currently have followed her from other places and walks of life. The result is an amazing 400-plus varieties of plant materials, which are predominately blooming shrubs and perennials.

For instance, the hollyhock blooming in the backyard garden is a memento of Heiland’s mother-in-law Helen, who passed away in 2010. Heiland transplanted the fickle flower from Helen’s garden. Once transplanted, she tells the story of her husband caring for the flower, watering it and of course, its unexpected bloom mid-summer.  “When they bloom here, we think of Helen,” she says.

Though she doesn’t tend to her personal garden every day, Heiland likes to get out there whenever she can. Depending on the time of year, Heiland might spend more time in her garden doing things like mulching and pulling weeds. However, it’s the vegetable garden and containers that take most of the work, she says. Heiland also tries to space her blooming shrubs so that they don’t need to be pruned as often, cutting down on the work.

Outtakes from the Photo Shoot:

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