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COUNTRY GARDENS // FA LL 2019
hen Janet Kayser-Johnson and her husband,
Eric Johnson, were dating, he gave her a heart
necklace. “It was his fi rst jewelry gift to me,”
Janet says. That romantic gesture was offered
again, years later, when the couple pondered what to do with
a postage-stamp lawn in their Portland, Oregon, backyard.
“How about making it a heart shape?” Eric proposed. Janet
said, “Let’s do.” Outlined by a fl agstone path, the green
heart of the garden is an expression of not only the couple’s
creativity, but also their love for family, friends, and the
tropical-esque garden they enjoy sharing with them.
Awash with hot orange and red fl owers, paddle-size leaves,
and rustling bamboo, and accented by a stone-pillar fountain,
Foo dog statues, and panels of bold art, the lushly planted
garden is vastly different from the bare dirt and jumble of
fallen branches Janet and Eric inherited with the house. Eric
reconfi gured oversize decks, removing part of one to make
space for a charming garden shed he built Janet for storing
tools and overwintering plants. Janet made the garden as
comfortable and inviting as the inside of the couple’s home,
relishing the hours spent outdoors. “The kids call the garden
my therapy,” she says with a laugh. “They joke, ‘Mom, you
didn’t know how much therapy you really needed!’ It was my
alone time when they were growing up.”
1 Containers are key in
Janet’s garden styling
because of the limited
in-ground planting space.
This stack of pedestal
planters holds over a
dozen succulents.
2 Janet and her husband,
Eric Johnson, have made
the most of a small garden
measuring just 22×35 feet.
Despite close neighboring
houses, the garden
feels private thanks to
lush plantings with big,
bold leaves.
3 Eric built a toolshed for
Janet that doubles as an
elegant she shed with a
glittering chandelier and
cushioned chaise.
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