Super-size me, Mr. Youngberg

SHARON — Tom Youngberg has dahlias the size of dinner plates growing in the sprawling garden behind his house on Lover’s Lane, but he doesn’t think they’re that impressive.

“We had even bigger ones a while ago,� he informed a recent visitor.

Visitors to a backyard garden? He has many, including a well-known Hollywood actress who likes to drop in when she’s staying at her Northwest Corner home.

“People stop by and want to look,� he said, with evident pride. “I just keep mowing the lawn. It is quite amazing. I’m proud of it.�

But, no, the dahlias aren’t quite as impressive this week as they were last week. That’s because Youngberg and his wife, Meg, have been selflessly sharing the bounty of their garden with friends and family. This week many of their biggest blooms were taken to a funeral service for a relative of Meg’s.

Youngberg grows the largest members of the dahlia family (known, appropriately, as dinner plate dahlias) but that’s not the only reason why they’re as big as, well, not just dinner plates but restaurant chargers (or do you call them face plates?).

The trick, he explained, is to dig up the bulbous roots of the plants each fall and take them in over the winter.

“You have to keep them in the basement, where it’s dark and cool,� he explained.

Dahlias are tubers, like peonies, and can be divided each fall after they’re dug up.

“They look like a clump of grapes,� Youngberg said. “Every year the root system gets bigger and they’re able to support a bigger plant.�

After just a few years in his care, Youngberg’s dahlia stalks are about six feet high.

“The darn things are hard to keep upright,� he said. “You have to rope them in. Last year they were great, but we had a wicked windstorm and it did in a lot of my plants.�

This year, he was prepared for the worst.

�I used heavier rope and tied them more often. You have to keep up with them because they get top heavy.�

Youngberg doesn’t use any special food or additives to make his plants grow. He doesn’t even mulch the dirt around his plants.

“It’s just care and a lot  of water,â€� he said. “It’s all natural, all I feed them is a little Miracle-Gro once in a while. Most of it is the soil composition. The topsoil should have more clay than sand.â€�

It also helps to have a really green thumb. Gardening is in Youngberg’s blood. His grandfather was an estate caretaker “so flowers were part of my upbringing.�

He and Meg have lived on Lover’s Lane for a decade now and their garden is just coming into its own, he said.

�This place was a jungle when we bought it,� he said. “It’s taken a long time to open it up and figure out what we could grow here.�

He grinned and gestured to the butterfly bushes, dahlias, berries and more that are thriving in his yard now.

“Obviously, they’re happy.�