Words by Andrea Gemmet
After Denise Shackleton replaced the magnolia trees along her front fence with persimmons, she was surprised by how enthusiastic her neighbors and friends were about the transformed landscape. “When they ripen, I’m everybody’s best friend,” Denise laughs.
By the time she reinvented her front yard as an edible garden, Denise had long dreamed of being able to grow her own produce. Now, it doesn’t faze her when people stop by to ask if she needs help picking all those firm-fleshed Fuyu persimmons or wants someone to take them off her hands. Thanks to her garden’s designer and her own prowess in the kitchen, Denise is well-equipped to handle the harvest. She dries slices of the fruit to enjoy all year, makes a persimmon-habanero jam to spoon over cream cheese and she still has plenty of fruit to share. “I’m a big fan of Fuyus,” she admits.
Denise and her husband Woody moved to Atherton in 2006 after raising their children in the Belmont hills, where her gardening aspirations never really came to fruition. “I thought you could grow anything in California, but that’s not the case,” she says of her old home. But just a little farther south down the Peninsula, it’s a different story. “We moved 10 miles and got a 15-degree difference in weather,” Denise says. In Atherton, it was possible to raise fruits and vegetables, just like she’d enjoyed on her grandparents’ farm in Northern California. Then, at a home and garden show in San Mateo, she discovered landscape designer Leslie Bennett, whose display artfully incorporated edible plants. Denise knew she’d found the perfect partner.
Leslie is the visionary behind Pine House Edible Gardens, which not only specializes in creating gardens that are fruitful as well as beautiful, but also offers ongoing gardening and harvesting services to keep clients’ landscapes flourishing in every season. Denise brought in Leslie to reimagine first one corner of her yard, and then another, and still another.
Off and on for over 10 years, the stately home’s grounds evolved into a series of garden vignettes that are as delicious as they are decorative.
On a sunny day in October, when the cool breeze signals the shift from summer to fall, Denise’s inviting front yard is bursting with color and texture. It’s only when you look a little closer that the garden reveals its secrets. Tucked behind an heirloom wine press, a tempting array of vegetables beckons from raised planters: plump tomatoes, deep green padron peppers, floppy yellow zucchini blossoms, glossy eggplants. Denise steps past the tall serrated fronds of an artichoke and ruddy stalks of rhubarb, and skirts the two beehives, explaining that they’re still abuzz from the beekeeper’s visit the day before.
Graceful trees hide figs and bumpy green avocados among their leaves, while a stately row of pomegranate trees flanks the swimming pool. Chinotto sour orange blossoms perfume the air, and patches of herbs and lacy alyssum attract pollinators. Leslie describes her style as “plant-heavy, layered and lush,” and delights in designing gardens that have a soft, romantic feel. “A big part of my work is growing food and flowers for harvest, creating beautiful spaces and creating gardens that are meaningful, that reflect your family story, your heritage and culture,” Leslie says. Denise wanted a tangible way to share the cultural traditions she’d learned from her Italian immigrant grandparents and pass them down to her grandkids. “That has been really inspiring as a design mission for the property,” Leslie shares. “I love the idea that gardens can be spaces where we can literally grow our family stories.”
“I wanted to see Denise’s grandchildren frolicking through there, picking fresh figs—that was her dream—and I think it’s come to be a reality,” says Leslie. “She’s had a lot of pure enjoyment from the garden. Those grandkids know every fruit tree, when they’re ripe, their seasons, and they know where their food comes from. That’s so awesome.”
Walk out the back door and you’ll see a gracious, spacious backyard, pleasing to the eye and perfect for family gatherings— including the wedding of Denise and Woody’s son in 2022. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll find every corner is cleverly used to its best advantage: heat-loving tomato varieties line the fence along the tennis court, which absorbs sunshine and reflects warmth. A cutting garden of lanky flowers is half-hidden by glossy fig trees. A narrow gravel path between two planting beds is lined with arching trellises that support cheerful cherry tomatoes in summer. Every fall, a crew from Pine House replaces the tomato, pepper, cucumber and basil plants with winter vegetables like beets, broccoli and Swiss chard.
Every two years, Denise has Pine House do a “freshen up” to replace any plants that are past their prime. “They’re so on top of stuff, they know all the new plants and new styles,” she says admiringly. Every other week during peak season, the crew comes out to do a heavy harvest, which keeps the plants producing. Denise finds ways to use or preserve it all—she is the kind of person who cannot stand to see food go to waste. “I do a lot of canning and dehydrating,” she says, and her artwork decorates the labels of her canning jars. Leslie has been the recipient of everything from fried zucchini blossoms to Denise’s “excellent” jams.
While Woody wasn’t terribly interested in their home’s edible garden at first, his appreciation has blossomed. Denise recalls her husband being wowed by the intense flavor of the first tomato they harvested, so unlike anything from a grocery store. “He said, ‘Oh my God, that’s the best tomato I’ve ever tasted!’” she laughs. “I said, ‘It’s also the most expensive!’”
Early Starts Here are landscape designer Leslie Bennett’s top picks to plant in Peninsula gardens this winter: + Striped fig: Also called a panache or tiger fig. “It’s a small, pretty garden tree, and the fruit is super delicious.” + Meyer lemon: A hardworking evergreen that thrives in large pots as well as in the ground, and produces fruit year-round. “We’re in California, everyone should have one.” + Roses: Instead of a formal rose garden, sprinkle them throughout your landscaping. “There aren’t many other flowers that have such a big bloom with such a long bloom season.” Leslie sources unusual varieties from Regan Nursery in Fremont. + Aeonium canariense: A great border-edging plant, this evergreen and cold-hardy succulent thrives on the Peninsula. “It adds a young, cool, updated look to the garden.” + Leucadendron ‘Ebony’: This hardy, winter-blooming plant has dark burgundy leaves that appear almost black. “It’s beautiful in all seasons, and it’s dark, so it makes a great contrast in the landscape.”
The Shackletons’ yard is featured in Garden Wonderland, Leslie Bennett (pictured above) and Julie Chai’s 2024 book, published by Ten Speed Press. pinehouseediblegardens.com