Mountain Ridge Top Garden - East Lawn and Lower Drive Border

Name: Mountain Ridge Top Garden - East Lawn and Lower Drive Border

Open to the public: No

County: Buncombe

USDA Hardiness Zone: 6b (2023)

Extension Demonstration Garden? No

Approximate year the garden/landscape was established:  Development began in 1999

What to look for: The East Lawn and Lower Drive Border of the Mountain Ridge Top Garden have been developed to enhance the beauty of this private residence as seen from the street, and to frame the view of the mountain scenery, including beautiful sun and moon rises, seen from the home.

A stone retaining wall about 100 feet in length was built along the upper side of the drive and a planting bed extending about 20 feet above the retaining wall was developed using low-growing evergreens including blue Sargent juniper (Juniperus chinensis var.sargentii ‘Glauca’), emerald spreader Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata 'Monloo'), and bird’s nest spruce (Picea abies ‘Nidiformis’). Groupings of crimson pygmy barberry and Harbor Dwarf nandina as well as a specimen of Montgomery blue spruce and a Jordan full moon maple (Acer shirasawanum ‘Jordan’) were added creating contrasts in texture and color, from greens to purples and blue and yellow.

A large planting bed on sloping ground has been developed from the corner of the house down to the SE corner of the property. Included in the border plantings here are Nelly Stevens hollies, Kousa dogwoods, a dove tree, and a variety of shrubs including groupings of ‘Sarah’ mountain laurel, Maries Doublefile viburnum and Itea virginica, both ‘Henry’s Garnet’ and ‘Merlot’. A large monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), shown in some photos, grew in the center of this bed for many years.

English ivy was planted early on to stabilize the steep slope below the drive. Trees and shrubs growing in this bed include groupings of Maries Doublefile viburnum, Nellie R. Stevens holly, a Fothergilla 'Mt Airy', and a Bradford pear. At the base of the drive, shrub groupings of Carissa hollies and Crimson Pygmy barberry are planted on each side to mark the entrance.

Near the top end of the retaining wall, there is a grouping of volunteer trees below the drive including a black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), a black cherry (Prunus serotina), and a hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). These frame the view of the mountains from the house's front windows. Under these trees, a group of rhododendrons were planted early on. Beyond the trees, a shrub border below the drive includes mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia “Sarah'), several dwarf hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa, ‘Kosteri’, ‘Snowkist’, and ‘Nana Lutea’). Specimens of Blue Chiffon rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus 'Notwoodthree') and Lavender Twist redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Covey’) with shrub underplantings including Pumila Norway spruce, Blue Star juniper, and Crimson Pygmy barberry add to the contrast of color and texture.

Across the drive on the uphill side of the upper portion of the driveway shrub border are purple and yellow cultivars of ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Tiny Wine’ and ‘Lemon Candy and a grouping of Fothergilla ‘Mt. Airy’.

At the NE corner of the home, below the deck, is a lower-level entrance with a stone patio. Adjacent to that patio is a small bed with Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum with pinkish-red flowers and purple foliage that contrasts beautifully with the bright golden variegated sweet flag underneath and the evergreen foliage of the Skimmia japonica 'Dwarf' planted nearby.

Below the patio and above the uphill side of the driveway border planting bed is the wide expanse of the sloping East Lawn below the house, about 110 feet long with an average width of about 35 feet, a unifying element in this colorful and diverse garden room.

Horticulture: The land is fairly steeply sloped, dropping over 40 feet in elevation in less than 100 feet from the house to the street, with an average slope of 43%. The steepest portion lies below the drive where the slope of the land increases to up to 67%. Ground covers are used extensively to prevent erosion, especially where the ground is more steeply sloped.

The soil is loamy with good drainage, but rocks often lie below the surface, especially along the ridge top. Most plants were installed as small, container-grown nursery stock. The property has no irrigation system, so newly planted trees and shrubs are watered by hand. Fortunately, deer have only been sited on the property on a couple of occasions, but squirrels, rabbits, groundhogs, turkeys and bears are not uncommon in the garden.