There should be no mystery as to what inspires the stunning garden that surrounds Carol and Steve Higgins's Ladue home. The clues are everywhere. Travel down a long driveway and cross a small bridge. Arrive at gently curved brick walls flan ing a beckoning brick walk. Containers and garden beds filled with seasonal mums and the last of summer’s butterfly weed soften the wall and walk. They also hint that there is much more to come. Start down the walk to the contemporary, split-level home and hear the sound of bubbling water on your right. The murmur emanates from a small pond almost totally obscured by a variety of tassel-topped grasses and scarlet burning bush. The natural, woodsy setting opens to a lush green vista provided by over an acre of sloping lawn ending at a small creek. Topping the slope are the house and a three-tiered waterfall that seems to spill from the house itself. Japanese maples and dwarf conifers tie the rocks and glistening water to the landscape. Once inside the Higgins’s front door, the key to their landscape design is obvious. Just to the left is the dining room, lined with floo -to-ceiling windows that provide full view of that broad waterfall. Sit down at the table and be almost certain that if you moved your toes just slightly you could dip them in that cool, splashing water. The front waterfall, designed by Chris Graham of Conroy Lawn and Landscaping and one of the most recent additions to the Higgins’s garden, is something the couple treasures all year long. “When it is snowing in January, the view is just beautiful,” Carol notes. “The whole idea of the landscaping is to confuse what is inside and what is outside.” “The most important thing outdoors,” Steve adds, expanding the couple’s gardening philosophy, “is that there are places to sit, and each place has a significantly di erent view.” Some garden spots, such as the one on the north side of the house with multiple tables and chairs and a view of a grotto-like stone waterfall cut into a hillside, is meant as an area to visit with family and friends. Others places, such as a spot near the top of the waterfall by the front door, there is only a small bench for two. It is a destination meant for Steve and Carol when they pour a glass of wine in the late afternoon or early evening and “move from chair to chair” taking stock of what they have created and what needs to be done next. For Carol, who has a background in computer technology, and Steve, who is a lawyer, the garden is very much a joint project. Their love of gardening began with their first home in the Central West End and a 75x50-foot courtyard. The couple worked with landscape architect Matt Moynihan to “pack a lot into a little space.” The project was so successful the Higgins’s garden was featured in Better Homes and Gardens magazine. “Matt taught us so much,” Steve recalls. “We learned about plant selection, design and perspective.” After 25 years, the couple moved to a condo with a 20x12-foot garden plot. Within three years “we decided we weren’t going to make it” with only that small space in which to plant, Steve says with a laugh. While their new one-plus-acre landscape might seem STLOUISHOMESMAG.COM
OUTDOOR_1115.indd 57
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015
57 10/16/15 12:51 PM