Southern_Living_June_2017

JUNE 2017 / SOUTHERNLIVING.COM

94

When Stephanie and Bill Reeves

happened upon a purple smoke

tree espalier in a neighbor’s garden,

they were utterly enamored and

immediately set about finding the

feature’s designer.

“We wove ‘Princess Diana’ scarlet

clematis through the foliage of a smoke

tree to form an espalier,” Atlanta-based

landscape designer Alex Smith explains.

The Reeveses found the result, a rich

combination of purple jewel tones and

vivid greens, impossible to forget. So the

couple asked Smith to create the garden

at Thistlewaite, their mountain retreat

in Highlands, North Carolina—and to

include a few of the smoke tree espaliers

in the design.

Three outdoor rooms compose the

garden: the entry, the courtyard, and the

rock garden. “The house is designed so

every room has a view of a garden,” Bill Reeves

says. An avid gardener himself, Reeves knew

that he wanted a space with visual impact as well

as function, a place that he and his family could

enjoy year-round. Each of the outdoor rooms has

its own personality, but the transitions between

them are seamless.

Guests enter the courtyard by following the

entry garden’s winding pathway and passing

through the gatehouse, which was designed by

architect Norman D. Askins. Because visitors come

in through the courtyard, the Reeveses consider

this garden to be the first room in their home.

“The courtyard is at treetop level

because we built a 22-foot retaining

wall to form the garden. In Highlands,

there aren’t many flat spaces on

which to build, so we had to create

one,” Reeves says. This is where

Smith implemented the most stylized

designs, including the parterre. Because

it is completely man-made, Smith

says, “We had total control in the

confined courtyard space.”

The Reeveses collect garden

statuary, and their beloved pieces

inspired several elements in the

landscape design. A statue called

Posterity presides over the parterre’s

intricate scrollwork. Situated atop the gatehouse

is a stone thistle, a nod to the area’s Scottish

Highlands influences. Architectural features and

garden elements commingle with the plantings to

create a space that is both beautiful and livable.

“Every garden we finish is my favorite, but this

one is really special,” Smith says. “The garden is

very intimate. It doesn’t feel overwhelming, but it’s

loaded with details.” It is precisely those thoughtful

details that compelled this collaboration in the first

place. It all started with a smoke tree, and thanks

to Smith’s eye for design, the result is a stunning

retreat in the mountains.

Give Your

Garden a

Calling Card

“Here, we formed an

espalier out of purple

smoke trees and

‘Princess Diana’

scarlet clematis. You

can manipulate

anything by pruning,

so we trained them

and pinned them

against the walls

to be treated as

espaliers (or wall

shrubs),” Smith says.

“It all

started

with a

smoke

tree.”