Their Stoneridge Avenue home presented landscaping challenges, but Christina and David Boenitz’s property provides places for leisure along with bounteous fruit and vegetables

By Elizabeth Essex

Gardens catch our attention for various reasons. It might be a striking new plant we haven’t seen before, or the scent of a blossom wafting on the breeze, or the image of a butterfly waving its wings at us! This month, the pergola at 903 Stoneridge Ave. is compelling for its ability to create a garden room much enjoyed by the owners, Christina and David Boenitz.

The Meadowbrook Park neighborhood, located close to where North Mountain Avenue crosses over I-5, enjoys stunning views of the hills, but it represented a challenge for developers in integrating the architecture with the topography.

The Boenitz residence experiences a drop of 3 feet from the street to the front door and an additional 12 feet to the rear property line. In addition to the critical matter of drainage, the aesthetics of an entry garden were paramount. Incorporating a handsome pergola into the design addressed this issue quite admirably and afforded the opportunity of creating a pocket garden for plants to thrive in.

The pergola, constructed of 6-by-6-inch posts and 6-by-12 crossbeams, complements the front door in scale and proportion. Crossbeams are capped with aluminum, ensuring longevity, and shade cloth provides relief when necessary. Three colorful ceramic pots have been tucked into pockets where three corners of the arbor are each supported by three posts. Christina has nurtured a self-pollinating pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana), a kiwi vine (Kiwi Magic Hardy, kiwi combination) and a heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) in the pots. The flagstone patio is interlaced with creeping thyme and a natural gas fire bowl entertains after dusk when rocking chairs are pulled up near at hand. Christina has added numerous pieces of glass art throughout the garden.

The garden room is defined by four living walls. Street-side, ceramic pots are planted with a semi-dwarf McIntosh apple, a 20th century Asian pear and two NZ flax (Phormium Maori Maiden). Noninvasive clumping bamboo (Fargesia rufa Green Panda) alternating with Scotch heather (Erica x darleyensis) define the edging at the end of the patio and snowball hydrangea screen the foundation. The front door is flanked by star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) trained on trellises elevated further by large tapered pots. Opposite the front door is a weeping Norway spruce (Picea abies pendula), tall and slender to accent the entry.

The pergola is extended by a portico over the entryway reaching across the front face of the residence where privacy for sitting is ensured by a grove of trees planted in the side yard (dogwood, Japanese maple and a Little Gem magnolia.

Several large shade trees, notably maple and oaks, are planted along a decomposed granite path leading down from Stoneridge Avenue to an alley at the lower elevation. The Boenitzes chose to connect their patio to this path, which necessitated the building of a stone retaining wall that artfully complements the flagstone material used in the patio.

The handsome stone wall at the foot of the path mimics the wall built up above. A wisteria vine is being trained along the top of the fence at the foot of their property. The driveway is edged on the northern boundary by a living screen of Leyland cypress, which completely blocks out rooflines looking out from the residence. All the trees on the property, including the oak and maple, are maintained by Tate with Table Rock Tree Care.

The rear garden is private but the Boenitzes have maximized its potential by constructing raised vegetable beds and utilizing trellises to the fullest extent. Pathways are covered with artificial turf for easy cleanup, and a small greenhouse provides a workspace for tender veggie starts. Christina has always been a gardener, and she has pushed the envelope on what she can grow here. This is their eighth year living in Ashland, and in addition to the plant material that accents the front garden, Christina is growing a pomegranate, basil, bush cherry, blueberry bushes, a Negronne fig, green beans, butternut squash, tomatoes, sugar cube melons, chard and sweet peppers. Ferns, lavender, salvia, rhodies and rosemary were all in evidence.

Visitors marvel at the vigor and health of all the plant material, evidence that it is well cared for. Tender plants are moved for the winter months into a cellar, where solar grow lights provide the necessary spectrum of light. Christina enthusiastically believes that her time and hard work is rewarded many times over. Family and friends enjoy the bounty, and the remnants are easily recycled with an electric countertop composter. A gardener is hired once a year to help with maintenance and clean up.

It is profoundly evident that the challenges presented by the topography of this landscape were more than compensated for by the structures built at 903 Stoneridge Ave. The pergola and portico create a welcoming space for entertaining in the front garden while the raised vegetable boxes and trellises provide increased productivity for the table, a feast for both the eye and the palate.

Thank you, Christina and David, for sharing your remarkable gardens with us.

The Ashland Garden Club has been selecting Gardens of the Month from April through September since 2000. Nominations are gratefully received at [email protected]. Check out the club’s website at ashlandorgardenclub.org for information on meeting times and places.