cottage garden in the city

Southern Living, Apr 2005 by Marty, Edwin

Emerald evergreens make a great backdrop for colorful flowers.

In a small yard buried deep within the sprawling concrete of Atlanta, Dan Cleveland stands with his sharpened primers quietly snipping away at the waves of boxwood hedges surrounding him. His chocolate Lab plays with the bunny on the front porch. The chickens scratch and peck around the boxwood parterres out back. Dan, who goes by his last name, Cleveland, laughs softly at the spectacle. "I grew up on a farm where we grew everything we ate," he says. "I guess I tried to create something that made sense to me here." What makes sense to Cleveland is obviously creating things of beauty.

Bones of Boxwoods

"I started out eight years ago with a typical yard-some grass, a few trees, and a drainage problem," Cleveland explains as we wander along the flagstone path, lined by undulating hedges of Japanese boxwoods. "I tore out the grass and put in stone terraces. I have no use for grass. I'd rather water plants than cut grass."

With a stone terrace built along the front of the yard and another against the house to keep the water away, Cleveland brought in loads of horse manure. "The soil was poor, so I just kept bringing in composted manure and working it in," he recalls. "Now it's really good, and the plants love it."

Next he was ready for foundation plants. "I do landscape design for a company called Boxwoods, so it sort of makes sense that I filled up my yard with that plant, doesn't it?" Cleveland asks. But he didn't just drop in some boxwoods against the house and call it good. Instead he sculpted a botanical maze using tiny green leaves.

"The front yard is really just a four-part parterre garden," Cleveland explains. "But I'm not a very balanced person so, of course, the yard isn't that balanced either." To achieve this look, he installed hedges of Japanese boxwoods that vary in height and shape. Waves of shrubs flow around the yard. He also used American boxwoods as anchors in the corners of the parterres and along the steps. These shrubs repeat throughout the garden and create a rhythm of shape and color.

Echoes in the Garden

While boxwoods certainly make the bones of Cleveland's yard, his fascination with color and shapes couldn't be satiated by just one plant. "I dropped in two different trees on the corners to anchor the yard," he says. "The Chinese elm (Ulmus parvifolia) is different enough in shape and size from the holly to continue the non-symmetric look."

He also uses roses judiciously throughout the yard to add bursts of seasonal color. "There really isn't much room for annuals," says Cleveland. "That's intentional, so the roses carry a lot of the color." Pink 'Flower Carpet' roses crawl over stone terraces, and a Lady Banks's rose hangs like a drapery over the front door.

Cleveland fills up the parterre beds seasonally with annuals and short-lived perennials, such as foxgloves, delphiniums, and poppies. But the secret to the garden is his use of ground covers. "I love planting Japanese sweet flag and dwarf mondo grass," he says. "They add hints of shapes and colors without being overstated." Cleveland added bluets (Houstonia caerulea) and Ogon' Japanese sweet flag (Acorus gramineus Ogon') on the front steps and along the stone patio to contrast with the boxwood hedges. "With this much green, the yellow of the Ogon' Japanese sweet flag pops out dramatically and actually looks like a plant in bloom," he says.

Between the Hedges

Cleveland and I walk around the side of his cottage, weaving through huge stone urns that are covered in moss and bursting with bonsai boxwoods, weeping boxwoods, and even a variegated boxwood. I peek through a break in the Foster holly hedge and see chickens prancing around more boxwood parterres. The show never stops.

"I tried a little patch of grass in the center, but after a thousand people tromped through on a garden tour, I just pulled it all up and brought in more pea gravel," Cleveland explains.

He created another parterre garden in the back, again using a combination of American and Japanese box-woods. With the hedges in place, he filled in the beds with plants based on their tolerance of sun. "The backyard faces north but is shaded on the eastern side by this old pecan," says Cleveland as he shakes his finger at a massive pecan tree. "I took advantage of the shade by putting in camellias and Japanese maples. I've created a wine-burgundy color scheme that complements the boxwoods. They're cooling colors that make it pleasant in the summer."

For more color echoes, Cleveland filled in the remainder of the backyard with 'Burgundy' Chinese fringe (Loropetalum chinense 'Burgundy'), red bananas, and English ivy.

A Worthy Vessel

Working in the landscape business allows Cleveland ample opportunity to salvage both plants and containers. "A tree fell on a maple at a client's house," Cleveland says. "I ripped it out and replaced it, but the tree was still healthy. I dropped it in a container and shoved it against my house. Now it's a perfect espaliered maple."