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Green Peace

click any of the photos below to start the slideshow

Artistic gardeners discover Zen and the art of backyard maintenance

Photographs by
Zach Suggs
Scott Hornsby and Amelia Johnson have surrounded their brick bungalow with an unconventional garden that eschews traditional blooms for a variety of grasses, succulents, and shrubs.
A planter full of bulbine, ‘Hedgehog’ aloe, blue beaked yucca, and artichoke agave sits on a “lawn” of river rocks, while a nearby pot hosts water irises (shown) growing at the foot of a cypress tree.
A planter full of bulbine, ‘Hedgehog’ aloe, blue beaked yucca, and artichoke agave sits on a “lawn” of river rocks, while a nearby pot hosts water irises growing at the foot of a cypress tree.
Built to cover a stump left from Hurricane Hugo, the back deck is a shady retreat where dwarf bamboo shoots from a metal planter, a ‘Butterfly’ Japanese maple pairs with blue sedge, and muhly and Japanese forest grasses share a pot with Mexican weeping bamboo. “They sweep beautifully in the breeze,” says Amelia.
An arbor, outfitted with antique teak panels for privacy, and a garage-turned-shed with a welcoming deck invite relaxation throughout the backyard.
The side deck invites sun-loving plants, including some of the only flowering varieties in the garden.
Scott Hornsby and Amelia Johnson have surrounded their brick bungalow with an unconventional garden that eschews traditional blooms for a variety of grasses, succulents, and shrubs.
In the front yard, wok-shaped containers rest in beds of Mexican beach pebbles, with two bearing dramatic evergreen shrubs known as desert spoons and a third holding a blue beaked yucca alongside smaller agaves and cacti.
Pitcher plants mingle with cannas and irises in one of many water gardens housed in containers around the property. “They’re just so easy, because you rarely have to add water,” Amelia notes.
An arbor, outfitted with antique teak panels for privacy, and a garage-turned-shed with a welcoming deck invite relaxation throughout the backyard.
Containers of cacti and succulents (shown); portulaca, a prolific annual also called moss rose; and a blooming aloe surrounded by sedums
Containers of cacti and succulents; portulaca, a prolific annual also called moss rose (shown); and a blooming aloe surrounded by sedums
Containers of cacti and succulents; portulaca, a prolific annual also called moss rose; and a blooming aloe surrounded by sedums (shown)
An agave
Iron gates found at an antiques shop welcome entry into the “Zen garden.” Notes Amelia, “I use decorative elements to make my outdoor living spaces feel like little rooms.”
Iron gates found at an antiques shop welcome entry into the “Zen garden.” Notes Amelia, “I use decorative elements to make my outdoor living spaces feel like little rooms.”
Spider lilies, “which will grow most anywhere—in dirt or water, sun or shade”
the path leading through the backyard to a garden hidden behind the shed
WNC GS grit weddings WR