Aging to Perfection

More than 20 years in the making, this Fairfax garden has matured splendidly.

By Carole Ottesen

Photo by Omar Salinas

In this era of instant gratification–of nanosecond computer downloads, of on-demand films, of Internet shopping with overnight delivery–there are still some things that move at a graceful, leisurely pace. A fine garden is one of them; it cannot be hurried.

For two decades, the owner of this Fairfax property has labored to transform a weedy lot into her perfect garden. At the same time, she and her husband were also turning the property’s rambling Victorian farmhouse into their dream home.

Fearful Prospects

In the beginning, both house and garden were anything but dreamy. Shortly after buying the property, the couple learned that it was known as the local haunted house. “The neighbors called it ‘the house of the Baskervilles,’ after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tale of a demonic hound that spread terror on the moor,” the homeowner remembers. The neighbors’ description was dead on.

“There was a dirt cellar and there were dead animals in the basement,” she recalls. The house was not habitable. “We worked on the house for four years before moving in.”

Just about everything needed work. On the outside, the old clapboard siding was deteriorated, and the original roof no longer kept out the rain.

“We took all of the boards off the house and put on a brand-new copper roof,” she says. From the time the roof was installed until it oxidized to its present verdigris, the copper gleamed in the sunlight. “You could see it from airplanes,” she remembers. At the time, a new copper roof on a residential building was so unusual, “the Smithsonian brought buses by to see it.”

Stripped to the Skeleton

Although tearing the house down to its skeleton was an enormous undertaking, the results justified all of the effort. One of the biggest perks of such a complete renovation was that the original design could be tweaked. In addition to removing interior walls for a more open, flowing floor plan, the appearance and functionality of the exterior improved.

“My husband elevated the widow’s walk,” the homeowner explains. “That was one structural change.” Another was the transformation of the porch–from a small one leading out from the kitchen to a spacious wrap-around that spans two sides. The new porch is a comfortable outdoor room that overlooks the gardens.

“When you have an old house,” she says, “you generally get the house done first [before starting on the yard].” In this case, there was a division of labor. “He did the house; I did the yard.”

Beginning with the Bones

“I started work on the yard before we moved in,” she says. It was horrifically overgrown–“mired in every kind of bramble. I’m still taking some of them out.” She brought in good soil and began putting in the landscape “bones first,” an action that speaks of her sophistication and vision as a gardener. It’s not surprising to learn that she had a landscaping company for 25 years along with a retail store.

Her expertise came in handy when the property next door was excavated for a new house. She asked for the fill and raised a huge berm on one side of the house that she planted with trees and shrubs, including Leyland cypress, Japanese cedar, pines, and photinias. Today, these plants have grown tall and dense, forming a wonderful mixed screen that provides privacy to both properties.

On the other side of the yard, the first things she added were the Hicks yews. Unfortunately, they had to be replanted because, according to the owners, “someone stole the first set.” The replanted yews are some of the “bones” that give the garden structure. Together with hemlocks, they form a privacy hedge along the street. In addition, these evergreens help to divide the garden into rooms.

The Rooms Are the View

“I wanted to have garden ‘rooms’ because I have all of these windows,” explains the homeowner. Big windows surround the house and overlook a series of those rooms, including a perennial garden, an herb garden, a rose garden, a formal entrance court, and a shady retreat. All of these spaces are alive with birds. From the inside, birds flitting from one garden room to the next are an active and colorful part of the view.

Outside, it’s the other way around: “The robins watch and follow me,” she says. “We’ve got great worms.” The birds have also helped to plant surprises in the garden: “I haven’t planted any columbines–it’s the birds.”

Masterful Management

The gardener’s knowledge is evident in her choice and treatment of the trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that grow in her garden.

A stunning purple-leaf form of redbud, Forest Pansy is a great companion to masses of purple petunias. The bark of a paperbark maple is such a vivid burnt orange that people often ask if it was painted. The collection of peonies in the perennial garden includes both herbaceous and rarer tree types. Last year when the garden made its fourth appearance in the Virginia Historic Garden Week, these well-sited, well-tended plants showed their gratitude. “All the peonies bloomed at the same time,” she says happily.

Never timid about experimenting with the plants she grows, this gardener has topped mature magnolias to keep them in scale and combined two spindly Foster hollies into one plump specimen. She has also trained hollies to form the arched entrances to her rose garden. Yet, as readily as she manipulates nature, she also accepts that she does not have complete control. She knows there is an ideal place for each plant, and finding it is an intriguing puzzle.

“Plants are just like people; each can excel in the right situation. I love the mystery of discovering where that right place is.” Typically, she will grow a plant in a container on the porch to see how it adapts to various situations before installing it in the garden.

A Gardening Legacy

As it is with many people who seem to have been born with green thumbs, when gardening comes this naturally, it invariably had its start early on. “I’ve been gardening and have had a feel for nature since childhood,” she says. One of her earliest and most cherished memories was the anticipation and pleasure of a visit to her grandfather’s farm.

“I must have been very young, because I remember counting telephone poles in the back seat of the car on the drive out. They lived out in Boyds.”

She remembers her grandfather fondly. “He was tall and lean with a great crop of white hair. We’d ride around on the tractor with him. He was always laughing.” These visits were filled with the joy of growing things: “I used to plant old-fashioned plants–four o’clocks and fire bushes.”

Such early experiences ensured her a lifetime of finding pleasure in the natural world. The magic has never waned. She still finds it exciting to put a seed in the ground and watch it sprout.

Another trait that persists into adulthood is a patient acceptance of the rhythms of nature. Though she wasn’t able to transform “the house of the Baskervilles” into a masterpiece overnight, she possessed an enduring vision that helped her nurture her surroundings and allow them to develop at their own pace. Despite living in this frenetic age, she understands that a garden can’t be rushed and may never be complete. Still, after 21 years, she concedes with a satisfied smile that the end is in sight for her erstwhile “haunted” house: “I figure three more years, and it’ll be done.”