During the summer months, fresh golden raspberries, baby strawberries, zucchini and squash appear on my front porch – all post-picking gifts from my neighbors, Kathy and Fred Crabtree. Their garden is a prime example of learning not to judge a book by its cover… or in this case, not to judge a garden by its house!

Fred and Kathy’s home on Royal Lane in Jacksonville is a post modern, Italian-style home of art and landscape design. A paver staircase leads up the steep corner hillside to the front door. Flanked by a planned landscape of evergreens, Nandina, lavender, and large boulders, pots and iron pieces add design elements along the walkway before it transitions to softer ground covers at the front door. Two prominent, 1890 London chimney pipes, standing like grand chess pieces, introduce the art found inside the home.

Windows wrap the home, providing glorious views of the valley and surrounding nature, along with ample light for the interior art. Inside, patio windows bring your focus immediately into the back garden area, where the surprises begin.

One reason Kathy and Fred moved from Medford, and built this home 3 years ago, was to expand gardening! After a landscaper planned the variety of shrubs and conifers, Kathy and Fred have spent the rest of their time adding more garden features, including a vegetable garden. Their original design goal was to go deer proof, and have color and change from January until late fall. Fred commented that none of the shrubbery is the same size, color, or character, and there is very little duplication of planting. A large variety fills this unusual garden. The Crabtree’s back garden area is comprised of a large paver patio off their back doors and a series of three-tiered planting terraces rising 20 feet to the top of their hill, wrapping their hillside home. Each terrace is about 4 feet wide, filled with plantings – all are accessible by standing on the terrace beneath! The terraces create a secluded and nested Italian-style living area where gardening options abound.

The deep russet stucco walls match the entire outside of the home. Smooth, rich continuity allows your eye to see only the foliage, planting, and gardens that abound in front of you.

In the center of the patio, a wide rock staircase with iron railing curves up the hill, edging a large hillside stone waterfall, taking you to the top of the terraces.

Kathy and Fred’s love for gardening goes back to childhood and eating fresh tomatoes off the vine. I have known them for 3 years and until today, had no idea that so much of this yard is dedicated to vegetable gardening. At first glance, one notices the beautiful Italian terracing with its evergreens and foliage. Yet, behind it all, a bountiful bonus is tucked on the top of the sunny hill…where they spend their time amid the gala of onions and raspberries! Random conifers and cedars wall the garden and create a perfect garden pocket! There’s squash tucked under Cyprus, rows of raspberries behind blue gray conifers, dill, tomatoes, and beans – all tucked and happy in the shrubbery!

Even the first terrace off the patio, once full of shrubs, now has a cascading bounty of strawberries, still pretty in early fall. Kathy commented, “You can always change a garden,” while explaining that they have indeed moved about 80% of the initial plantings. As they learned about pockets of heat and wind, shadowing and light, they tweaked the terrace plantings, including moving several shrubs that improved the view from inside the home.

A “secret garden,” on the side of the home, tucked at the end of the lower terrace, was once the dump area during the construction phase of the home. Now amended with a French drain, the retreat is a shaded hidden surprise with pathway stones, lemon and wooly thyme and ferns tucked here and there. A climbing hydrangea against the fence flanks a garden stone bench.

Fred loves to garden and watch things grow, just to see what the plant does. “It takes your mind off things that just don’t matter,” commented Fred. Kathy added, “When you go through life changes, rather than TV or depression, go out and dig…it’s calming… and better than housecleaning!”

The Crabtree’s only garden regret is a decision made during the building process – “When you build, you have tons of dirt blown in or brought in. I wish I would have had good compost and soil brought in from the start,” said Kathy.

Kathy and Fred are a gardening team, spending their favorite times in the garden. Early morning, they prune and pick. In the evening, they grab a cocktail and walk around the yard and enjoy it. The only rule here… no prunes on the evening walk! They also love bringing their gardening into the kitchen and sharing fresh garden ingredients – something they do with friends and neighbors. I am blessed to have them as neighbors and to enjoy their bounty as well as the art and beauty of their home!

Kay is the owner of Blue Door Garden Store, located at 155 N Third St. Specializing in paraphernalia for the home gardener; she carries garden gifts, decor and a wide variety of pots, tools, gloves, and organic products.