AUtumn's outdoor room

Southern Living, Oct 2001 by Thigpen, Charlie

Pumpkin topiaries and a warm outdoor fireplace welcome the season to the Randleman family's side yard.

The emerald green, warm-season lawn is turning tawny brown as it prepares to go dormant for the winter. Nippy afternoon breezes send multicolored leaves trickling down to the ground, signaling the change of the seasons. It's a great time of year to enjoy the smell of hickory or oak burning, and to feel the warmth of a fire in a garden room embellished with autumn treasures.

All Duane and Lynn Randleman have to do is open French doors on the side of their house to enter a comfortable, enchanting outdoor room. Together with a contractor, they transformed their side yard into a special place with a level area for their children to play and also a cozy spot for entertaining guests. The result? Their garden literally flows from the kitchen as an extension of the house, and it's used often by the little ones and the adults.

The stacked bluestone walls create boundaries outlining the turf. Behind them, colorful annuals and perennials spill out of large raised beds. The height of the beds eliminates the need to bend over, making them easier to work. Through the seasons, the look of the garden changes. This time of year, large, buttery mums beside the fireplace add a splash of yellow that complements the orange pumpkins and fall foliage.

Different-size pumpkins randomly lean and nestle along the wall and lawn for a Halloween treat. `Nellie R. Stevens' hollies form a dark green impenetrable hedge on one side of the garden, while a feathery row of light green Leyland cypress creates privacy on the other. These living evergreen walls provide a dramatic and practical wrapping for the garden.

Atop the entrance columns stand two pumpkin topiaries, reminiscent of festive finials. The white pumpkins sandwiched between orange ones offer contrast for a striking display. A piece of metal rebar secured in a concrete-filled pot helps position and stabilize the stacked gourds. Bittersweet weaves around the arrangement, its berries glowing like a string of Christmas lights. Burgundy-colored sourwood leaves spread out from under the pumpkins to cover the concrete base (For instructions, see box at right.)

A decorative wreath draws attention to the outdoor fireplace, located in a corner of the room. The wreath's circular form was fashioned from a few muscadine vines wired together. Five small pumpkins were evenly spaced and bound to the wreath with wire. Bittersweet and autumn-hued leaves tucked around the vines add bulk to the arrangement.

The fireplace rising from the neatly stacked walls serves as a natural gathering place when the temperature drops. A gas starter makes fire building quick and easy, and one of the family's favorite activities is roasting marshmallows over the flames while sipping warm mugs of hot chocolate. Just for fun, the Randlemans have even invited some of their neighbors over to cook hot dogs.

The side yard was never meant to be cluttered with fim-niture. The walls, capped with large, flat stones, were built at a comfortable height for sitting, and the capstones have tumbled edges so there are no sharp points. Outdoor speakers pipe music into the garden, and low-voltage lighting produces a soft glow, allowing visitors to maneuver around the garden at night.

Many homeowners work hard on their front and backyard, never giving their side yard a second thought. Not the Randlemans-they took a little-used area in their garden and made it a gathering place. In truth, they added a large room onto their house-one that has only the sun, clouds, moon, and stars for a ceiling.

HOW TO BUILD A

PUMPKIN TOPIARY

Supplies needed: bag of concrete, terra-cotta pot, small block of wood, metal rebar. 1. Drill a pilot hole in the block of wood a little smaller than the diameter of the rebar. (A small piece of 4 x 4 works great.)

2. Using a hammer, tap a 2 1/2-foot-long piece of rebar into the block of wood until secure.

3. Set the wood into a bowlshaped terra-cotta container, covering the drain. The rebar and the wood should be centered in the bowl.

4. Pour dry cement around the wooden block 3 to 4 inches deep for a heavy base.

5. Fill the bowl with water, and let the concrete set for 24 hours.

6. Select three pumpkins. Drill small holes in the bottoms and tops of the first two pumpkins, and slide them onto the rebar. Drill a small hole only in the bottom of the third pumpkin to cap the arrangement.

7. Use pinecones as spacers if your rebar is taller than your pumpkins.

8. Leaves make a nice cover for the concrete base. Bittersweet or similarly colored branches wrapped around the arrangement add a decorative touch.