(Click on all images to enlarge)
This was one of the gardens on tour at the APLD conference in Cleveland this year, and the grand front entrance, nary a blade of grass in sight, was brimming with texture, color, and shapes carefully jigsawed together, but it was just a hint of what was to come.
The driveway itself? A beautiful espalier of Braeburn apples against a stucco wall is not something you'd likely see in many other similar locations.
Add to that the striking parking court with the intricate paving and rose-covered trellis with six arches stretching all the way across the back between the property line and the garage.
You make a right turn at the end of house to enter the back yard and encounter a stunning array of plants from the brilliant clematis to the window box bursting with color, the geraniums at ground level and the vine climbing up one side of the window.
The veg garden is just outside the conservatory, which is attached to the back side of the garage. I loved the style of the low fence surrounding the garden, and note the placement of stepping stones to allow easy access to all the rows for easy maintenance and harvesting.
From the pool, looking back at the house, you'd never guess that the 1930's Mediterranean-style house was built around a huge organ that lives in the basement. Music was playing throughout our visit.
A "summer house" is the perfect place to dine and/or relax while out in the garden ... and you can stroll the lawn around and behind it to enjoy myriad beds filled with shrubs, trees and other plants.
Up near the back of the house, there's a spacious patio that overlooks the entire garden, and a cantilevered pond -- two separate units -- with the lily pond above and the koi pond below.
As you exit the garden, again passing by the garage, it would be hard to miss the frog on the side of the wall ... at every turn in this garden, there's something wonderful to notice ... a particular plant, a design feature, an unusual container. One of my colleagues noted that's it's a perfect family garden ... it was designed to be lived in, and it's clear that someone's out enjoying it almost all the time.
Although the owner did much of the design himself, it's been greatly enhanced by designer Ann Rosmarin, APLD.
Ann Rosmarin is a real talent - she is so creative, and her attention to detail is extraordinary. Anyone who lives in the Cleveland area would be very fortunate to work with her.
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