Planned by Architectural Designer,Frank Smith, and executed by John Byrd Garden Design, this classically beautiful garden blankets the back yard of Leslie and Mitchell Wickham’s home in Myers Park. “I brought Frank over to look at the lot with me and on a yellow notepad, he drew a rough copy of what you see today,” remembers Leslie. The shape of the lot presented challenges, but the team created a space that can be seen from almost everywhere in the house.
John Byrd spent almost a year with the Wickhams viewing different types of trees, plants and flowers during the four seasons, all represented in some form throughout the garden. The yard is divided into several “rooms” – motor court, croquet lawn, cutting garden, boxwood knot garden, vegetable beds, play yard and potting shed. Rainwater is captured and stored in two large cisterns buried under the garden beds, providing most of the water needed for irrigation, so maintenance is easy, but necessary for each new season.