With Atlanta’s spot in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, our garden spaces differ wildly from flat, even terrain to steeply pitched lots.
In June 1991, Nilda and Conrad Winiarski bought their home in the Roswell subdivision of Willow Springs. Perched at one of the highest points in the community, their front views overlooked the rolling hills of the neighborhood. Their back view was a sheer wall of granite.
For almost 15 years, the retired pathologist and engineer lived with a narrow patch of flat land just outside their back door as their outdoor living space. Walking their dachshund Charlie through the neighborhood, they met Alpharetta-based landscape designer Michele Morel. One day Conrad asked the designer to take a look at their problem lot.
“Like looking at Stone Mountain” is how Morel describes her first impression. The Winiarskis had tried, furnishing the small flat space with a table, chairs and some potted plants. A set of rustic stone steps led up to a flat patio area, completely exposed to the elements.
Three-and-a-half years later, Morel and the Winiarskis have transformed this backyard into a series of paths, terraced garden beds and places to pause that lead to a shady gazebo and a “cigar and brandy room” at the top of the lot.
That transformation required moving a lot of rock. “I had an employee on a jackhammer working eight hours a day for a full week just to carve out a small area where I could plant a crepe myrtle. In essence, we created a huge planter there,” Morel said.
Everything that came into or out of that back garden had to be carried in a wheelbarrow, and if it needed to go to the top of the slope, it was hand carried. “It took dumpster after dumpster to haul away all the granite,” Morel said. The transformation took a year of this kind of hard labor.
The project was done in sections, and as each area was prepared, dry-stack stone walls were constructed to create terraced garden beds. Morel selected Tennessee fieldstone for the walls, and while visiting the stone yard, found large interesting boulders to be used as accent pieces in the garden. One particular triangular stone inspired the creation of a fire pit, which now provides coals for an adjacent grill.
As stonework was finished, purchased soil was carried in to fill the terraces, and the fun of planting began. Nilda Winiarski had an heirloom collection of hydrangeas she inherited from her mother’s garden. They had been struggling in the old backyard, but replanted in the newly created beds, their exuberance is testimony to the value of thorough preparation.
These days, sitting on the back terrace, enjoying a glass of wine and a meal prepared in their outdoor kitchen, the Winiarskis no longer feel they’re preparing to scale Stone Mountain.
Dealing with a slope
“Drainage is key to everything,” Morel says.
Channel water down the slope and away from the house. Work with the angles of the slope and strategically build berms to channel the flow of the water. Break up any dirt so it can absorb more water. In the Winiarski garden, a series of catch basins and pipes carry the water from the backyard down to the street. A gravel path slows the flow of water and allows it to percolate into the soil.
Break up the slope into a series of planting areas. Careful placement will also slow the flow of water. Dry-stack stone walls are less expensive to construct that mortared walls, but require careful engineering.
Morel suggests terrace beds should be at least 36-inches wide and 36-inches deep. She leaves the front 10 inches of the bed unplanted so there won’t be plant roots pushing on the dry-stack walls.
Morel plants for interest in all seasons.
“A flower is a bonus. You need different textures, different colors of green and a mixture of evergreen and deciduous plants,” she said.
Her favorites for a slope are Japanese maples, plum yews, ‘Blue Star’ junipers, ‘Purple Diamond’ loropetalum and creeping ground covers like ajuga and candytuft.
Access to the beds is critical.
“When we were building the stone walls we created little steps to provide a way to get up into the beds. At first Nilda was insulted and called them ‘senior citizen steps’, but now she appreciates them. They make it possible for her as a gardener to really enjoy her garden even as she ages,” Morel said.
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