Product Profile: March 1997, Landscaping Creates Wyoming Oasis

It would surprise most, however, to see such manicured landscape beauty on a northern Wyoming ranch. But that’s exactly what visitors see when they drive into the yard at the IXL Ranch, nestled at the base of the Big Horn Mountains outside Dayton, Wyo.

The grounds at the IXL are as attractive and appealing as any you might find on a Southern plantation. Except, of course, the IXL has a distinctive western flavor. For example, the pens near the ranch buildings enclose a small herd of buffalo. Other pens house llamas and goats. Three man-made ponds on the property are stocked with trout and largemouth bass. Deer, wild turkeys and waterfowl frequent the grounds.

The IXL Ranch tells the history of its owners in many ways, tracing to its original homesteaders in 1891. Captain Frank Grissell, a former member of the Ninth Bengal Lancers, a British regiment raised in India in the early 19th century, established a small ranch in 1891 and registered the IXL brand in 1892. The "IXL" name commemorated his old regiment.

Another former Ninth Lancer, Captain Jack Milward, homesteaded the area where the ranch headquarters are now located in the 1890s. In 1899, he acquired the it from Grissell.

Today, the sign at the entrance to the ranch still reads "IXL Ranch." The intervening years, however, saw many changes. Captain Milward established a dude ranch in the early 1900s. Later, it was owned and expanded in size by the descendent of two U. S. presidents, who later become a Wyoming congressman.

The IXL continued as a dude ranch for several years. Finally, in 1974, it was purchased by oilman John Ellbogen. Under his ownership, the IXL has undergone perhaps its most striking changes since those early frontier settlement days.

WYOMING LAWN. The previous owners built a 9,000-square-foot ranch house when Ell-bogen took over. He added a greenhouse on the south endm an arboretum with a sauna and spa off the master bedroom, more than seven acres of lawn around the main buildings, hundreds of trees, a swimming pool and a waterfall from rock quarried on the ranch. The landscaping includes an English walking garden 120 feet long and 30 feet wide with stone paths.

Maintaining the grounds is a full-time job for two ranch employees, Brian Paxiao, ranch manager/caretaker and Gill Sutherland, gardener. During the summer, Paxiao hires up to six local high school students to help with mowing, landscaping, edging, painting and other work. Maintaining the property is a six-day per week effort, he said.

"The owner does a lot of entertaining in the summer, and he wants the grounds in tip-top shape," Paxiao explained. Lawn mowing generally begins in late March and continues through October. "We mow every day, six days a week. One of our riding mowers is going all the time, and sometimes both of them are working."

Paxiao noted when both mowers are working, it takes two days to mow the nearly 11 acres of bluegrass lawn around the ranch buildings. "When I got here, we had one rider. We bought a second one in 1993, so we could keep the lawns manicured better." Both riding mowers are 16-hp compact Walker models.

MANEUVERABLE MACHINES. The mowers’ maneuverability is important because of the drives, trees and landscape plantings. "These mowers are so easy to use for close-in mowing around trees and beds," he added. "We have a mulching deck we sometimes use, but most of the time we pick up clippings. The mower’s grass handling system is ideal for picking up leaves in the fall, too."

Annual precipitation in this area averages 15 to 18 inches, but much of that comes as snow. All lawn areas are watered with an underground sprinkler system. "We have three systems, each with its own pump pulling water out of our ponds for watering the lawns," said Paxiao. "We typically water every day, seven days a week, from morning until dark during the summer."

Ellbogen makes the IXL Ranch facilities available to garden clubs and other interested groups. The grounds are thus enjoyed by many who often express surprise at the oasis-like setting in the heart of what once was the "Old West."