When Anton Chekhov bought the estate in Melikhovo, there was a heavily overgrown, irregular plot of land around the house. It took the Chekhovs several years to plant an orchard and a vegetable garden. Anton Chekhov wrote to his publisher Alexei Suvorin,

The writer Tatiana L. Shchepkina-Kupernik reminisced,

Anton Pavlovich was particularly passionate about planting flowers and trees. In his garden he was able to arrange a continuous succession of blooming. As soon as the snow melted, blue crocuses came up, followed by red tulips and bluebells. In the garden there were asters, dahlias, lilies, delphiniums, zinnias, gladioluses, mallows, but most importantly — roses. Anton Pavlovich loved roses most of all, took great care of them himself, and when he was away, he would ask about the roses in letters and provide his instructions.

Anton Chekhov wrote,

Besides flowers, the writer took care of a small pond in front of the house, where in the first winter he dumped snow for more water, and later put some fish there. Rarely did any of Chekhov’s friends dare to bathe in the small, weedy pond, but there were those brave enough to do it.

Shchepkina-Kupernik wrote in her memoirs,

When fruit was ripe in the garden, the Chekhovs would gather all the village children and treat them to apples, cherries, and gooseberries. Anton Chekhov wrote,