Westhaven residents to show off unique courtyards
Tour stop's railway garden is no small wonder
Williamson AM
By NANCY MUELLER • For Williamson A.M. • May 16, 2008
FRANKLIN — Larry and Pam Webb have been creating a "railway garden" in the backyard of their Westhaven home for about a year. Starting today they will unveil it to visitors at the neighborhood's annual Courtyard Garden Tour.
The Webbs' unusual garden is one of eight on the tour, which begins at 10 a.m. today and runs through Sunday afternoon.
Their railway garden combines aspects of container gardening with a miniature railroad and, actually, gardening somewhat in miniature.
And they know what they are doing here. The Webbs have been into railway gardening since 1986.
The garden they built in the backyard of their Vista, Calif., home won national awards and was featured on the cover of Garden Railways magazine. Larry Webb was president of the local railway garden club in Vista, a suburban community near San Diego, where the couple lived before moving here in 2006.
Their new garden rests on a custom-constructed base filled with garden-grade topsoil. It is mulched with extremely fine gray stone gravel.
It is large enough to contain 340 feet of miniature train track, including two bridges.
The train will run through what looks much like a miniature landscape of Middle Tennessee, including a farm and farmhouse, a church, a pastor's house and cemetery and a yellow clapboard house sitting on a rocky hillside. And, of course, there's a train depot with miniature people in it waiting for the train.
The plantings are designed to mimic natural greenery, including petite species of trees, mosses and ground covers. There are pixie versions of Alberta spruce and cypress trees that Larry Webb will prune and trim as they grow.
"It's not bonsai, but a lot of people think that it is," Pam Webb said. She has spent hours selecting other plants that will produce small flowers such as the tri-color sedum, silver edge thyme and dwarf coral hedge barberry.
Two types of Herniaria glabra provide more ground cover, along with little "cobweb" plants, also known as "houseleek," which resemble miniature shrubbery. The plants develop a cocooning fuzz as they grow that resembles cobwebs.
"It's not a flowery garden," Pam Webb remarked. "What it does offer is many different shades of green, from lime green all the way to blue green."
Italy inspires
A cool, charming shade garden with hints of Italian style can be found in the courtyard of David and Arlene Berexa's house. Here, there are urns of hosta, dracena, bright tuberose begonias and trailing sweet potato vines.
In the beds are impatiens, hydrangeas, English ivy, magnolias, azaleas, holly trees and crepe myrtle.
There are several nods to Italian style here, from the lion's head fountain that hangs on one wall to the china set out on the courtyard table. On the covered porch at the back door is a painting on metal of an Italian villa and countryside scene.
By the door is a wall sculpture that is actually designed to be a receptacle for holy water.
"We wanted it to look like Italy," said Arlene Berexa. "We were inspired by a trip we took there five or six years ago."
A gravel walkway from the back yard leads to a gate and then, the front yard, where the Berexas have window boxes filled with lemon petunias, million bells and variegated ivy. The front beds include, in addition to evergreens, blooming iris and marigolds.
"I enjoy the design part. I get the ideas and (David) is the expediter," Arlene Berexa said.
"It was challenging designing something like this because it's such a small property and there is a lot of shade," she added. "A lot of things won't work here."
Stops are distinct
The other six gardens in the tour are:
• The Box family courtyard garden, which is about 1,000 square feet and features a curtained, covered back porch, a swimming pool, water fountains, an outdoor fireplace and professional outdoor kitchen. Plantings include magnolia, hibiscus and bamboo as well as evergreens.
• The Richardson family courtyard, which is filled with annual flowers, evergreens, bird feeding stations, an arbor and a stone patio.
• The Estock family courtyard, which includes an acid etched patio, a Vietnamese urn water fountain and custom trellis.
• The Snook family courtyard, a 2,400-square-foot, fully enclosed entertaining haven that includes a dipping pool, a grilling porch, an outdoor fireplace and a cabana with outdoor television. Plantings in beds and urns include hydrangea, yews, clematis, geraniums, million bells and verbena.
• The Khan family courtyard, a Zenlike garden that includes two fountains, roses and a lady-of-the-night plant.
• The Scarborough family courtyard, which demonstrates how a slope can be landscaped beautifully with the right plants. It includes an English flower garden, a stone waterfall and terraces with walkway.
Take a look at the Dream Home, too
The 2008 St. Jude Dream Home at Westhaven will also be open. The house, at 469 Wire Grass Lane, can be viewed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, each weekend until June 15. This $700,000 house will be given away on July 22. Tickets for a chance to win the home are now on sale at $100 each. All proceeds benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
Courtyard Garden Tour details
The Courtyard Garden Tour will be held from
10 a.m.-2 p.m. today,
10 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Westhaven Residents' Club, 401 Cheltenham Ave., in the development, which is just west of Franklin off Highway 96.
Proceeds benefit WAVES, a nonprofit agency that provides support and services to adults and children with developmental disabilities in Williamson County.