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By: Kyle Ferraro

Visitors find it hard-pressed to go to The Gardens at Hippley Village and walk away not relaxed. In a little residential neighborhood in Columbiana, a man has built his three-acre backyard into a botanical garden. The family-friendly garden has allowed visitors for over 27 years to view the colorful flowers and garden structures.

John Hippley, owner of The Gardens at Hippley Village, was born in Salem in 1962 and attended United schools all through graduation. Hippley then attended Kent State University, where he studied horticulture/landscaping and was a member of the track and cross-country teams. Hippley taught Introduction to Landscaping at Marlington High School until his retirement in 2013.

Hippley began the construction of his backyard botanical garden in 1997 when The Ed and Juanita Curl Train Garden was built. The train garden features a functionable model train and is named after the former residents of the plot of land that the garden currently resides on. 

Hippley and his landscaping crew were doing a job where they were tasked with tearing out a train garden, and John fell in love with it. 

“We did a job for a guy, and he had a train garden and wanted us to tear it out. He knew how much I liked it,” Hippley said. “So after we tore it out, he said to me, ‘Take it home,’ and we decided to work it right into the garden we were already starting to build.” 

Hippley has juggled maintaining the gardens while working many other jobs since the beginning.

The construction took an 11-year halt, as the next garden built was not until 2008 when the Lynne Jackson Potting Shed was put in. Jackson was a schoolteacher at Salem schools for 35 years and a lifelong friend of Hippley.

Residents in the neighborhood started showing up, which made Hippley decide to run with the idea of the garden to get where it is today. 

In the four-year period from 2013 to 2016, three different gardens were built, with the Hager Water Shed being built first. 

The watershed is as unique as it comes. Thousands of gallons of water collect in a basin under the ground and travel up out of the chimney, where it falls off the slanted roof and redoes the process. 

In 2015, Hippley bought and restored a 1954 Chevy truck from Iowa and turned it into a waterfall. 

The bed of the truck is often packed full of bright annual flowers, and pumpkins in the fall. 

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The third garden in those four years was built in 2016 when The Bill Mullins Doll House finished production. The doll house is a replication of The Bill Mullins Doll House, which is located in Salem. 

The Hippley Gardens bring in visitors young and old, however, Hippley says a great majority of visitors are parents who bring their children. 

“Here’s the one thing, we do get a lot of people bringing their kids to the garden,” Hippley said. “I’m going to say 75% is people bringing their little ones to the garden.”

This is, for the most part, because of The John and Judy Fieldhouse Children’s Garden that was built in 2018. The Children’s Garden is home to a huge Monopoly board in the paver walkway, a storybook barn, and a big piano just like the one in the movie “Big.” 

In 2019, The Margaret Nery Folly, a ruin garden, was built. It represents a fallen-over building that uses reused window frames from the Fawcett house, which was in Salem. 

A summer kitchen named Hanna’s Pub, which is located in the Drotleff Courtyard, was built in 2021. The courtyard is home to a grill area that has been used for events.

The Gardens at Hippley Village has been home to events in the past, but the number of events looks to decrease in the future. 

“We have allowed events in the past, but for the sake of our neighbors, we are trying to cut back on them. It’s almost to the point that there is something going on every weekend,” Hippley said. 

Matthew Mazei, a resident of the neighborhood, has built a relationship with Hippley over the years. Mazei sees the traffic during events and thinks of it differently than Hippley.

“I don’t think the traffic is that huge of a deal. I think it shows how successful the gardens have become,” Mazei said. “John built a mini koi pond in my backyard, so I honestly think he can do no wrong.” 

The koi pond in the gardens, named after Winnie Cross, was constructed in 2023. The koi pond is 6,000 square feet lined with huge boulders and filled with colorful koi fish. The pond holds 45,000 gallons of water while being five feet at its deepest and two feet at its shallowest. 

The koi pond features multiple waterfalls built by the landscaping company Hippley owns. Hippley Landscaping plays a huge part in funding the owner’s garden construction. 

“It’s funded by me [the gardens]. There is a lady that does give me some money every now and again, so it’s pretty much just me, out working,” Hippley said. “I always say my fundraiser is my landscape business because that pays for things to happen here.” 

Alex Shahan, former student and close friend of Hippley, has been a coworker and partner of Hippley since the early 2010s. Shahan has been a business owner himself, along with being around for the growth of the gardens. 

“My favorite part of the garden would be the progression,” Shahan said, “the craftmanship of both the hardscapes and soft scaping is awesome to see. As the progression of the gardens grow, so does the imagination of John and the quality of work that his crew does.” 

Owning a successful landscaping business is not the only thing that Hippley has had to juggle throughout the garden’s tenure. Along with being a business owner and schoolteacher, Hippley has been a part-time assistant men’s basketball coach at Walsh University in North Canton. Joining the staff in 2003, Hippley is entering his 20th year with the program. Hippley had prior stops at the high school level, along with one season as an assistant at the University of Detroit. 

To add another accolade to Hippley’s name, in 2008, Hippley authored “Living in the Shadows” which took readers into the season of the 2007-08 Walsh Cavaliers basketball season. The book is featured in the Children’s Garden’s storybook barn. 

Due to being a private garden, the hours of the gardens are not set. 

“We tell everyone the garden is never closed, we’re kind of like Vegas except we don’t take your money,” Hippley said. 

To make reservations, call 330-692-7909 ahead and receive directions to parking.