Melissa Losos, and anyone who has viewed her garden and knows the story behind it, would agree. That the 2015 St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles' Garden of the Year is genius, there is no doubt. Twice on the Missouri Botanical Garden tour of private gardens, which occurs once every three years, the breathtaking, serene, one-acre parklike space resembles something one would encounter on a tour of the Orient rather than in a back yard in Central St. Louis County.

For most people, one garden would be enough. But not for Kathy Dubuque. In the six years she and her husband John have lived in their Ladue residence, Kathy has created five or maybe six different gardens, depending upon how you count. All surround the couple’s European, country-style home; all have their own personalities.

“We had no plan,” says homeowner Larry Malashock, who purchased a rundown three-seasons home during his transition into retirement. The whole place was a fixer-upper, and the overhaul started in the main home. After expanding and remodeling there, Malashock turned to the ramshackle pool house. “It was basically a toilet and sink when we started,” he says, explaining, “It was built on stilts, and the support was giving way.”

When it came to his garden, John Moore knew what he wanted. He needed a place to decompress when he left work as a certified financial planner and senior vice president at Morgan Stanley. “I’m in an office all day long,” he explains.  “ When I leave work, I want to be outdoors. And I’m fairly high strung. I want to keep moving.”

Often small things can spark major transformations. It was a series of what were thought to be small concerns and simple ideas that lead to the creation of one of the most spectacular gardens in the St. Louis area; one that was a highlight of the recent Missouri Botanical Garden Garden Tour and is the St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles’ Garden of the Year.

Big pops of color, easy maintenance, while also comfortable and relaxing…could all three of these goals be combined in one landscape?