When I called Pat and Ted Plomgren to see if I could get some advice on a new garden I'm starting, Ted reminded me that it was 20 years ago in August that I first wrote about their Vinings garden for this newspaper. At that time, the couple had just started on a project that would provide two decades of enjoyment, hard physical labor, and a place to satisfy their passion for plants, collecting and garden design.

Much has taken place in the Plomgrens' backyard since August 1988. At the time of my first interview, the garden consisted of a new stacked stone retaining wall with a rustic fence on top, a perennial border and a hybrid tea rose garden.

Martha Tate (ENLARGE)

Shown is Pat and Ted Plomgren's lower garden parterre. Twenty years ago, the Vinings garden consisted of a new stacked stone retaining wall with a rustic fence on top, a perennial border and a hybrid tea rose garden.

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"The fun thing about this garden is that we've done it in stages," says Pat. "However, I'll have to say that it hasn't always turned out the way we thought it would."

For instance, the hybrid tea roses are long gone because of the demand for constant spraying and upkeep. And the swimming pool the couple planned for the lower level was never built. ("Thank goodness. We would have had it filled in by now," says Pat.)

Instead, the garden, which has been on tours, in magazines, in books, in newspapers and on TV, consists of a charming arrangement of rustic outbuildings and structures and planting patterns the two never envisioned at the outset.

The Plomgrens credit Jeremy Smearman of Planters with the success of the garden. For the past 14 years, he and his landscape architecture firm have provided design guidance, installation and maintenance.

"He's made all this possible," says Pat. "He's come up with some great ideas and has found really good people to implement them."

The Plomgrens say their 20-year adventure has been well worth the time, energy and investment.

"It's been fabulous," says Pat. "One thing that has been so much fun is sharing the garden with other people. Except for this time of year, we have dinner on the porch every night. Sometimes we'll look out and see neighbors walking through the garden."

Advice and observations from the Plomgrens and Smearman:

• One of the biggest mistakes, says Pat, was not planning for irrigation. "I would drag those big heavy-duty hoses from Sears — they must have weighed 400 pounds. By the time we decided to put a sprinkler system in, we had a very established garden, and no one wanted to touch it. Jeremy did find someone who was able to do it with minimal disruption. He's just had a well installed for us. You hardly know it's there."

• Don't plant shrubs and trees just because they are cheap and fast-growing. "Ted had to dig out red tip photinias and replace them with 'Nellie R. Stevens' hollies."

• Have a plan and do things in stages, advises Pat. "Have patience. We had a mud pit for two years in the lower garden." Smearman's recommendation: "Take baby steps. Don't try to do everything at once. You need to understand and study the space. It's difficult to grasp all the aspects at once."

• "One thing is an absolute must," says Pat. "You have to have good dirt. We have dug down and amended and replaced soil 18 to 24 inches everywhere."

• Ted says to build stone walls and install arbors and any other hardscapes before you start planting. "This is hard to do because you see plants you want, and they're hard to resist. Get your structures in first, and then plant."

• Ted: "Go on garden tours to get good ideas. We've copied so many people, it's ridiculous." The Plomgrens also have benefited from attending flower shows. At one such event in New York, the couple fell in love with a tiny antique greenhouse, which they bought and had shipped to their garden. Smearman was able to expand the greenhouse space by having an exact replica of the original copied and then connected in the middle.

• Incorporate things you love to collect into the garden. "Ted's thing is weather vanes," says Pat. "You'll find them all over the garden, and some are stacked up, waiting for a space."

• Have a good backdrop for your plants. Smearman says it's human nature to want color when you're just starting out. "Try to balance color with texture," he advises. "For the Plomgrens, we've used lots of Korean boxwoods to form borders. As a result, the flowers look better when they're in bloom, and you have a year-round presence."

• A few of the plants the Plomgrens enjoy: 'Fortune's Double Yellow' rose (blooms in April; clambers over the middle part of the greenhouse); Deutzia gracilis ("People are always intrigued with this dwarf deutzia," says Pat); Chinese evergreen oak (a new addition recommended by Smearman to anchor a parterre); hellebores ("So easy. I love them for bouquets," says Pat); hydrangeas; camellias; the early, bright pink peony, 'Paula Fay.'

Martha Tate is a writer who lives in Atlanta.