The four massive porch columns on Ron and Susan Antinori's contemporary house soar high above its Ansley Park garden. Bright green Boston ivy cloaks each one, making the pillars resemble trees — an architectural feature that begs the question: Is it nature, or is it art?

For Susan, it doesn't matter because one complements the other.

Danny C. Flanders/Staff (ENLARGE)

Chihuly pieces in Bert Russo and Dr. Deborah Levy's garden on the Sandy Springs Art in the Garden Tour.

RELATED PHOTOS • Tours: Use simplicity for impact TAKE TOURS FOR SOME INSPIRATION Three upcoming tours in metro Atlanta will cover a total of 17 gardens, giving visitors plenty of ideas on how to make art work seamlessly with the rest of a garden.

"The garden itself is art," she says.

Like their interior, the couple's outdoor rooms are accented with art and architectural features that reflect their personalities. Their garden is among 17 on three upcoming tours throughout metro Atlanta this spring that emphasize art, from classic statuary and metal sculptures to glazed pottery and whimsical wood carvings. Some of the art is collected by the owners, while other pieces, by area artists, are on exhibit for the tours.

Just don't expect to see lots of bottle trees, pink flamingos and whitewashed tire fences. These gardens are carefully designed around art as focal points, just as interiors are.

"Art helps define an outdoor space and should be kept simple," says Robin Pollack, an artist and Master Gardener, whose garden is on this weekend's Sandy Springs Art in the Garden Tour.

Pollack prefers to think of art as an element of the garden's hardscape, or its structural components, such as buildings, walls and pathways. "You never want it to upstage the plant material but to look like it's been there all along," says Pollack, whose garden entrance is marked by three turquoise raku sculptures she designed.

Sometimes the art blends with its surrounding nature so well that visitors don't even notice it. In Aubrey and Becky Daniels' Northlake backyard, the garage door displays a garden scene painted by muralist Kelly Morgenstern in trompe l'oeil (or "fool-the-eye") fashion — one so realistic that visitors nearly walk into it. There's also a mixed-media sculpture by Blue Chilton of "Flossie Mae," a famed Varsity carhop, a whimsical accent for the fun-loving couple's garden.

Like others on the Artful Garden Tour, a May 19 benefit for the High Museum, the gardeners are careful not to mix too many pieces in their landscape.

"My best advice is to keep it simple," Pollack says. "You don't want too much to look at so that you don't enjoy the garden."

The Antinori garden, also featured on the High Museum tour, is a textbook example. When the couple built their home four years ago, Seattle architect Jim Olson created a contemporary design that emphasizes glass for allowing lots of light in but is still private, sitting high on a south-facing lot. Atlanta landscape designers David Ellis and Brad McGill of Ellis LanDesign were brought in on the design from the start. "With all the glass, Jim wanted to make sure the landscape was just as important as the architecture," Susan Antinori says.

The back terraced garden is natural and serene, while the front is formal and set against the backdrop of those columns of Boston ivy, which starts out chartreuse in spring and turns russet in fall. "And when the leaves fall in winter, they leave this lacy effect which I love," she says.

At the top of the steps, a turquoise and black ceramic piece by Japanese artist Jun Kaneko marks the home's side entrance like an exclamation point.

"It's really the main art in the garden, and I think the simplicity makes it all the more serene and inviting," Susan says. "It's why I call the place my 'sticky house.' It's like I'm glued to it and never want to leave it."

GARDENING WITH ART

• Choose pieces appropriate for the design of both your home and garden.
• Consider the art's size and proportions. When displaying more than one piece, aim for a mix of large, medium and small. If most pieces are small, consider grouping them for more impact.
• Use art to create a focal point, such as at the end of a path, and to define a space.
• Consider views from indoors for enjoying the art in winter.
• Emphasize colors that complement the home's exterior and the garden's plant material.
• Accent pieces with landscape lighting, especially if you entertain at night.
ARTSY TOURS
• Sandy Springs Art in the Garden Tour: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Five gardens. Benefits Sandy Springs nonprofits. $20. $15 in advance. 770-955-1616.
• Artful Garden Tour: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 19. Six gardens in metro Atlanta. Benefits High Museum of Art. $18. $15 through May 17. 404-733-4521, www.high.org
/gardentour.
• In Our Own Back Yards: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. June 9. Six gardens in Gainesville. Benefits Hall County Master Gardeners. $10. hallcountymastergardeners.org.