The Virginia Beach Garden of Mac Houfek

Her work in the garden is never finished. 

“There’s always something to work on…to wait for.”

Mac Houfek’s Virginia Beach coastal garden always provides her with something to do. The eye catches on every piece in the garden. There’s so much to look at. 

It’s all about the fine-tuning for her. Armed with her trusty pruners, she gets out into the garden to tweak a branch here and there. 

Mac wasn’t always the gardening guru she is today, though. 

“Out of college I started with houseplants in a small apartment and as one would die I would get another one and find out what went wrong. It became a challenge as well as a hobby."

Plants have always been a challenge and a love of hers. Wherever she and her husband moved, there was a small garden. When she turned 50, she discovered her passion had outgrown her space, so they moved to a larger property. Mac says they loved the house, but it was really the yard that attracted them. 

She began to find inspiration in many different places. She decided to create garden rooms around her yard because so many things influenced her. The Charleston garden, for instance, was influenced by so many trips to the city to visit her son.

Her last big project was turning a small pocket of woods on the property to a woodland garden, a perfect place to display her collection of frogs for children to enjoy. 

Due to her love of Italy, an Italian inspired front garden was made and is still a work in progress for her.

Mac has such a connection with every plant in her yard that she enjoys being able to do most of the work by herself. 

Planting new things in her yard is exciting for her, but also presents a challenge.

“I’ve got to stay alive long enough to see what the new trees will look like!”

Mac Houfek is an accomplished author as well. To read more about her and to purchase her book, visit the website here or order on Amazon:

http://www.reflectionsonacoastalgarden.com/

Proceeds from the book are donated to Norfolk Botanical Garden.