Mountain Ridge Top Garden - North Lawn and Upper Drive Border

Name: Mountain Ridge Top Garden North Lawn and 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 North Lawn and Border of the Mountain Ridge Top Garden is found in the mountainous region of Buncombe County NC. This section includes plantings on both sides of the driveway as it makes its way uphill around a sweeping curve and levels out along the top of the ridge of this Mountain Ridge Top Garden. Plantings include a canopy of mature oaks, understory trees and shrubs, and a variety of ground layer plantings

On the inside of the curve is a large crepe myrtle with cream and beige-colored bark and lavender-colored flowers.  On the opposite side of the drive, as you enter this section of the garden, is a Weeping Hornbeam tree (Carpinus betulus 'Vienna Weeping'). Near the Hornbeam is grouping of dwarf evergreen shrubs including a dwarf Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica 'Magic Dragon'), a couple of small boxwoods including a dwarf variegated Buxus microphylla var. japonica 'Borderline', as well as a pair referred to as “The Exclamation Point” — a Degroot's Spire Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis 'Degroot's Spire') nearly ten feet tall and a foot wide at its widest point planted next to Cryptomeria japonica 'Tenzan', a very small and dense globe-shaped Japanese Cedar about eight inches wide and six inches tall (the point). A Crimson Pygmy Barberry also adds contrast in both color and texture in this grouping. Below the shrubs is a ground layer planting of mondo grass.

Just beyond these plantings and above the North side of the drive as it sweeps around the curve is a deep shrub border with a low stone retaining wall planted with low and wide-spreading Blue Sargent Juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii ‘Glauca’), some mugo pines, and a couple of dwarf Hinoki cypress. Behind these evergreens in the back of the bed is a grouping of several burning bush (Euonymus alata "Compactus"). Two large mature white oaks above the burning bush form the canopy. Just in front of the oaks is a specimen Japanese maple, Acer palmatum ‘Sharp's Pygmy’. A Blue Spruce (Picea pungens 'Fat Albert') stands in the back of this planting near the NW corner of the original three-quarter-acre lot.

Beyond the Crepe Myrtle on the inside of the drive is a Golden or False Larch (Pseudolarix amabilis), a deciduous conifer whose bright green needles turn yellow-gold before dropping off in the Fall. The inside of the curve is also underplanted with a grouping of Blue Sargent Juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii ‘Glauca’) backed by a grouping of Fothergila ‘Mt.Airy’, one of the owner’s favorite native deciduous shrubs valued for their Spring bottlebrush flowers with dense clusters of white filaments and yellowish anthers and brilliant yellow, orange, and red foliage in the Fall. More Crimson Pygmy Barberry, as well as Euonymus fortunei 'Silver Queen', offer contrast in color and texture on the uphill, lawn side of this bed.

After the drive reaches the ridge top, the North lawn itself becomes visible on the left (East) side of the drive, with beautiful mountain views up the Swannanoa River Valley to the East, and the Blue Ridge Parkway to the West. There are five specimen trees in the North lawn, including the largest mature white oak on the property, approximately 4 feet in diameter at its base, marked with a “Treasured Tree” sign placed by Asheville Greenworks, a local organization committed to a ‘climate resilient future’. Other trees, planted by the owner, include a River’s Purple Beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Riversii'), a Grape-Leaf Full Moon Maple (Acer japonicum ‘Vitifolium’), a Blue Himalayan Cedar (Cedrus deodara 'Karl Fuchs'), and a Pink Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida 'Rubra'). Next to the house is a bed of foundation plantings including Japanese hollies, both Ilex crenata 'Green Luster' and Ilex crenata 'Helleri'. Above the three Helleri hollies on the NE corner of the house is a beautiful ‘Emerald Fountain’ Hemlock specimen (Tsuga canadensis 'Monler'). On the opposite end of the bed, off the NW corner of the house, is large ‘Sherwood Flame’ Japanese Maple with bright red Fall foliage and underplanted with a mix of ground layer plants including Periwinkle (Vinca minor), Green Liriope (Liriope muscari), and Golden Variegated Sweet Flag (Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’). A few hostas grow along the front edge of this bed as well.

On the opposite (West) side of the drive along the ridge top, three large mature white oaks form a canopy above a border bed about 90 feet long and 15 feet deep lined with a row of Dwarf Burford Holly (Ilex cornuta “Burfordii Nana') backed by Hicksii Upright Yews (Taxus x media 'Hicksii”). The owner has planted an American Beech in the back, and eight understory trees are spaced along the bed, including a purple-flowering ‘Jane’ Magnolia, three diverse Japanese maples, a green-leaved Acer palmatum “Katsura”, purple-leaved Acer palmatum 'Fireglow', a yellow-leaved Acer palmatum 'Dissectum Flavescens', two lovely natives, the White Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus), and a Sassafras albidum, and two volunteers, a native white-flowering Dogwood and a tree form of Black Haw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium). The ground layer plantings in this bed include evergreen azaleas, hydrangea, peony, a variety of hostas, and Periwinkle (Vinca minor).

Horticulture: This section is less steep than most other parts of the garden, with about 13 feet variation in elevation and an average slope of about 10%. The steepest slope is along the driveway itself, approaching nearly 20% grade on the curve at its steepest point and leveling out on the top of the ridge as the drive approaches the house.

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 sighted on the property on a couple of occasions, but squirrels, rabbits, turkeys, and bears are not uncommon in the garden.