When Patrick Barrett built his striking, hilltop home in Des Peres 15 years ago, he loved everything about it. The gorgeous stone architecture had a timeless European appeal. The views of the surrounding countryside were spectacular. There was one thing, however, he hated. The ugly 15-to-20-foot retaining wall that was designed to re-enforce the hillside to install a swimming pool just outside the home’s walkout lower level. Not only was it unattractive, as the father of five active children, he viewed the drop off as dangerous. But in a classic lemons to lemonade situation, the effort to avoid installing a retaining wall inspired a stunning water feature that keynotes the home’s outdoor space. A stream and series of small waterfalls hug the wall and the side of the house and flow into a koi pond at the same level as the pool. A series of large, flat, stepping stones allow garden visitors to walk across the stream and down the hillside.
To make all that hardscape colorful and beautiful each year, Pat relies on Wende Ouellette of Wende's Landscaping. A former horticulturist at Greenbriar Country Club in Kirkwood and head horticulturist at The Legends Country Club in Eureka, Wende is no stranger to landscaping hillsides and knowing what annuals are most reliable and will provide non-stop color in tough, sunny situations.
Each October and November she talks with her clients about plans for the next year's landscaping. "Some will say, 'Let's keep it the same; it was beautiful.' Or they will tell me if they want to start a new color scheme," she explains. Once her customers have decided what they want for the coming year, she starts the landscaping plants for the spring in her 20x72-foot greenhouse.
At Pat's house, 'Supertunia Vista Bubblegum,' forms its own pink stream down the hillside following the same line as the waterfalls. "Each plant will grow three-feet wide and they bloom nonstop," Wende says. For contrast she pairs it with 'Crazytunia Black Mamba.' She also likes the dark contrast of 'Main Street Abbey Road' coleus. She relies on the Dreamland series of dwarf zinnias for continuing color, as well. "They stay nice and short and you don't have to deadhead them," she explains. Marigolds are included in each flowering garden bed. "He loves marigolds, and I always try to go with the customer's taste," Wende emphasizes.
Constants in the garden include 'Gold Mop' false cypress and sedum ground cover that softens the edges of paving stones. A striking 15-foot-tall banana tree is cut down in the fall, mulched and grows back in the warm weather to tower over the garden.
Dramatic topical plants accent the huge containers that decorate the courtyard. "I bring in 10 gallon topicals, but we have to shave then down to get them in there and it takes three people to pick them up and put them in pots," Wende notes.
While planting the pots is taxing, the hardest job is mulching the garden, which clings to the steep slope. "It takes 32 yards of mulch and because of the landscape everything has to be brought in in wheelbarrows," Wende notes.
