Garden Tour Preview IV

Reflection on Antiquities

            Driving up to this 1922 bungalow in Crestwood, it becomes evident that the owners are interested in the antiquities. The front yard is surrounded by a stucco and brick wall; antique gates with shrubs and flowers interspersed are surrounded by more statues and historical sculptural pieces.  Set between two large pillars separating the front yard from the drive are extremely old metal gates that glow with a patina of rust and age.  They seem much oversized for the house, as are most of the objects in the garden, and yet they fit perfectly.  Across from them are pleached Hornbeam trees, the type that would be comfortable in an old English garden.

            Moving along the drive to the stunning, secluded backyard, the garden looks more expansive than it is due to the many large mirrors along the fence and small garden pockets filled with architectural antiquities, fountains, and statues at every turn.  Just entering the back yard will stop the viewer agape in their tracks.  However, it has taken 23 years to accomplish this feat after being neglected and overgrown with little or no thought to planning.  The owner has said a chainsaw was needed just to break through the brambles.  Fortunately, this is not the case today.

            The garden rooms flow from area to area making it serviceable for entertaining and multi-purpose usage such as benefits, brunches, and cocktail parties which the owners frequently hold.  The landscape is dotted with several water features, including many fountains that operate year-round, not only for the birds but for the sound they make.  The afore-mentioned mirrors are incorporated into the structure of the backyard to capture visual space and movement.  The use of reclaimed materials, some historical, and most of stone or marble, add a feeling of antiquity throughout the yard.  Due to this, the garden has been photographed for many local, national, and international publications, either for the garden itself or for background use in fashion shots.

            The garden is a mix of everything, plant-wise.  Boxwood dominates the plant life and delineates the structure and flow throughout the garden.  Most of the beds are filled with colorful and/or structural plants, beginning with the pleached Hornbeams, a weeping flat cedar, and a tall, crisply-clipped hedge that surrounds the front yard.  Blue Atlas cedars provide both color and structure, while climbing hydrangeas (placed against a brick wall), herbs, begonias, clivia and coleus add color in pots or planted together in some beds.  Hostas allow a color range in low light areas under several tall trees, including a Plumeria that is 12-15 feet tall.  Cactus and Elephant Ears also add color and structural variety.

            The garden owners have managed to create a beautiful, historical garden by remembering to “Adapt, adapt, adapt!” says one of the owners.  Their motto is: “Gardens just don’t grow; they evolve and change.”  And they continue with the process, frequently adding new structures.  This garden will be on tour with the Master Gardeners of Greater Kansas City 2013 Garden Tour, “Unique Gardens of South Kansas City”, June 7 and 8.

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