Country Gardens – July 2019

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COUNTRY GARDENS // FA LL 2019


TOP The gardens outside the back door can be enjoyed through the sunroom windows in any weather. ABOVE LEFT Elizabeth
fell in love with growing perennials while studying to become a Master Gardener in 2001. “What fascinates me is to see what
makes it through the winter,” she says. ABOVE RIGHT Pink Drift roses bloom nearly nonstop.

bushes and groundcovers, killing weeds, removing
a stone path that led to nowhere, and amending the
soil—all while restoring the home to create a gracious
guesthouse reminiscent of days gone by.
By the time Elizabeth was finished taming
the yard, only a rose of Sharon, a lilac, and a few
nondescript trees remained. But an abundant oasis
soon took root as the 20-year gardening veteran began
planting an everblooming emporium of perennial
delights patterned after the storybook splendor of
English country gardens. “I’ve been blessed to travel
to England many times, and I fell in love with the
rambling gardens in the quaint countryside,” Elizabeth
says. She fashioned her own idyllic version by
enveloping the lawn in curvaceous flowerbeds richly
planted in layers to showcase each season’s offerings.
Roses galore, brick paths, stepping-stones, Victorian-
style benches, and dovecotes accentuate the garden’s
English influence.
With a more-is-better approach to color, Elizabeth
enlisted a host of hues to bring her garden dreams
to fruition. “I totally looked at this landscape as an
open palette,” she says. “I wanted color all the time,
so something is always popping.” Her carefully
timed choreography of plantings ensures a constant
show of blooms from early spring through autumn.

M


any homeowners may have been intimidated
by the long-neglected house and yard that
greeted Elizabeth Schwartz Bohlman when

she moved into her ailing 1902 Victorian in Johnstown,


Ohio, 10 years ago. But the property was a welcome


challenge for the empty nester with an exuberant vision


for bringing both back to life. “The house was already


zoned commercial and I love people, so I thought why


not turn it into a bed-and-breakfast,” says Elizabeth,


who approached the backyard—little more than weeds


and overgrown shrubs at the time—with the same


gusto. (She has since closed the B and B.) She kicked


her can-do attitude into high gear, tearing out unwieldy

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