A View for Every Season

Create beautiful flower-filled borders that look great from spring to frost.

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It's all about the view This amazing panorama that includes Mount St. Helens isn't the only attraction in Lisa Graff's backyard. Take a seat on the patio or in the gazebo to enjoy the ever-changing borders, listen to the bubbling fountain or gaze at the pond and watch the wildlife that comes and goes.

Considering herself an English garden groupie, Lisa Graff has visited the United Kingdom several times to see gardens and take design classes. So when she and her husband, Brad, built their home in the hills around USDA zone 8 Portland, Oregon, 15 years ago, it was a given that she'd include design elements from her favorite English gardens: a beautiful borrowed view, curved pathways, a water feature, borders packed with flowers and the dry-stacked stone walls in photo 2. And her passion for flowering plants inspired her to start her business, Lux Perennials Nursery.

FRAME THE VIEW To emphasize the sight of Mount St. Helens in the distance, Lisa added the fountain and rill, or small stream, in photo 3. The water feature is centered on the house and flows down the slope, leading your eye to the mountain. Even if you aren't lucky enough to have a mountain vista, you can take advantage of a nearby flowering tree or stately evergreen by selectively pruning a hedge or keeping a fence at a lower height in one spot. You could also lead the eye with colorful containers to the scenery from a nearby park or greenbelt.

Terracing the slope near the patio using dry-stacked stone walls provided level areas that are easier to plant and maintain.