It all started with a dream; a vision, if you will.

Nine years ago, the homeowner was vacationing at a resort hotel in Napa, California, and was charmed by an all-white garden. It just so happened that at the same time, she and her husband were working on the design of a new house on a three-plus-acre property they had acquired in Ladue. 

For the design of the house, they wanted something timeless. She envisioned a French, country-style home with a steeply pitched roof line and cobblestone, courtyard-style entrance. “I didn’t want it to look like a new house,” she explains. “I wanted it to look like it had been here a long time.” She also wanted a seamless transition between the indoor and outdoor spaces similar to the homes she had grown up with in her native South Africa. If the house was to appear timeless, then so did the landscaping that anchored it to property

For the construction of the house, the homeowners turned to architect Dick Bush and Minton Homes. The landscaping piece of the puzzle fell to Poynter Landscape Architecture and Construction and Bob Wilhelm, vice president of sales and design. 

“It was years in the making,” says Bob, reflecting on the breadth of the landscaping project. “We started designing it two years before we ever stuck a shovel in the ground. We had inspirational photos from the homeowners. Our research involved things as basic as looking at photos of existing country French homes and the landscapes surrounding them.” For their architectural interest, long bloom time and classic beauty, hydrangeas along with over 250 boxwoods became the go-to shrubs. 

On the actual site, research involved simply walking around the exterior of the home and making note of the views from the different windows. It was important to the homeowner for the garden to have the same feel all around the house. That meant carefully selecting hydrangea cultivars that would respond equally well to the different conditions of sun and shade that surrounded the home. 

Included in the 212 hydrangeas in the landscape are 129 native mophead  ‘Annabelles,’ 28 'Alice' oakleafs with red fall foliage, 19 ‘Limelight’ with football shaped blossoms transitioning from lime green to white, 20 ‘Little Lime,’ a dwarf version of ‘Limelight’ and 16 ‘Little Lime’ pruned into tree form. 

The show of white blossoms begins in early spring with the dainty flowers of eastern white redbuds adorning still bare branches. It continues with the upright flags of hundreds of irises, transplanted from the homeowners’ previous home in Wildwood.  The mushroom-shaped umbrellas of ‘Tina’ crabapple trees add to the spring display. Then comes the flourish created by 103 peony plants covered with lush, ruffled, fragrant blossoms, all before the parade of hydrangeas begins. 

While the landscape is large, one of the keys to maintaining it, according to Michelle Reasor-West, director of horticulture for Poynter, is selecting the appropriately sized plant for the various areas of the landscape. “One of the first things out of most people’s mouths is, ‘I want low maintenance,’” she says. “One of the things we have to think about during the design process is knowing the plants and how they are going to behave. We have healthier, stronger gardens and less labor if we select the right plants and maintain them the way they (the plants) want us to do it.”

Working closely with the builder was imperative. While the property was over three acres, not all of it lent itself to a house and manicured garden. A steep hillside containing a creek at the back of the lot was not suitable for building or formal landscaping. The homeowners fenced that off and turned it into a native plant haven. “We filled it with plants like coneflowers and milkweed so we have things for the butterflies and bees,” the homeowner notes.   

On the rest of the lot, the location of the house with the views from its doors and windows was all important. Landscapers built a small waterfall, for example, where it could be viewed from the windows of the homeowner’s study. 

Creating a gardening masterpiece, however, involves more than copying pretty pictures and creating lovely views. Before a single plant went into the ground, the landscaping plan had to be approved by the City of Ladue. In addition, planting the hundreds of trees and shrubs that were part of the design needed to be coordinated with the builder so that landscapers did not inadvertently cut wires or dig up something that was important to the building plan. 

The ongoing maintenance of the garden is in the hands of Michelle Reasor-West, Poynter’s Director of Horticulture. “We try to create relationships with the clients. We want to get the garden to where it is meant to be,” explains Michelle. “If we just plant it and walk away, we don’t have as good a project. Often when Michelle stops by to check on the yard, she finds the homeowner walking the garden as well. It is a garden that has lived up to everyone’s expectations. “One of the things I love most about (the homeowner) is that she is out there walking the yard, cutting flowers and bringing them inside,” Michelle adds. “We jokingly refer to it as ‘our' garden’” 

“One of my favorite times of the year,” the homeowner says, “is in the spring when I can go out and cut the peonies. I have friends who come by and also cut them. “I feel like I have a beautiful garden, a welcoming garden,” she continues, “a ‘maison des fleurs,’ a house of flowers. I wanted to create something that was inviting, simple and elegant.”