Tour a Designer’s Gardens in the North Carolina Mountains
The nature-inspired landscape surrounds a new dogtrot home with a meadow, a steep hillside, bogs and a natural stream
Becky Harris
February 6, 2021
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
Charlotte, North Carolina, landscape designer Jay Sifford had always dreamed of a house in the North Carolina mountains, and found his dream property in a valley near West Jefferson about two years ago. The aspect he was most excited about was designing and installing the gardens. “I’m in Zone 8 in Charlotte, and I was excited to grow some of my favorite Zone 6 plants that I can’t grow at home. I call this my alter-ego garden,” he says. He’s referring to hardiness zones, which are guides to which plants will thrive and survive in different areas of the country. While he installed new plants, Sifford was careful to preserve the wonderful native plants on the property. The landscape includes a meadow out front and a steep slope that leads down to two bogs and a stream with rapids out back.
Photos by Jay Sifford
Garden at a Glance
Who lives here: Landscape designer Jay Sifford, who designed the landscape and installed the plants
Location: Near West Jefferson, North Carolina
Size: 1.4 acres
House design: Architect Jim Owen of DIGSdesign
Site
Here are Sifford’s boots and the two most important criteria on his wish list during his search for a property. “No. 1, it had to have lots of rhododendrons, and No. 2, it had to have a stream with rapids,” he says. This steeply sloped lot was just the place. Traveling through the Appalachian Mountains, he came upon a pub in West Jefferson and stopped to have lunch. “The people were so friendly, and I thought, ‘This is me. This is my home,’” he says.
“This was the first property I saw. The Realtor didn’t think I’d like it because it had two bogs. Unless you’re a crazy garden designer like me, you probably don’t want bogs,” he says. “I fell in love with the rhododendrons and the stream. I open up my windows at night, and the sound of the rapids puts me to sleep.” He’s named his property Rhodwood.
Work with a landscape designer
Garden at a Glance
Who lives here: Landscape designer Jay Sifford, who designed the landscape and installed the plants
Location: Near West Jefferson, North Carolina
Size: 1.4 acres
House design: Architect Jim Owen of DIGSdesign
Site
Here are Sifford’s boots and the two most important criteria on his wish list during his search for a property. “No. 1, it had to have lots of rhododendrons, and No. 2, it had to have a stream with rapids,” he says. This steeply sloped lot was just the place. Traveling through the Appalachian Mountains, he came upon a pub in West Jefferson and stopped to have lunch. “The people were so friendly, and I thought, ‘This is me. This is my home,’” he says.
“This was the first property I saw. The Realtor didn’t think I’d like it because it had two bogs. Unless you’re a crazy garden designer like me, you probably don’t want bogs,” he says. “I fell in love with the rhododendrons and the stream. I open up my windows at night, and the sound of the rapids puts me to sleep.” He’s named his property Rhodwood.
Work with a landscape designer
Sifford got busy working on the gardens immediately, while also working on the plans for the house with an architect he knew in Charlotte, Jim Owens of DIGSdesign. “I knew I wanted something contemporary but not midcentury modern. And I’m tired of seeing concrete cubes,” he says. “I wanted something with more of a story to it.”
While researching local vernacular styles, he found that even though he hadn’t spied one recently, dogtrot houses had a history in the Appalachian region. A dogtrot house is composed of two separate cabins built side by side, connected by a breezeway. The name comes from the idea that when a dog was “too hot to trot,” it could find a cool, shady spot in the breezeway. Today, modernists are drawn to the straightforward and honest structure of these homes as well as the passive cooling provided by the breezeway.
The breezeway also serves as a connection between the front and back landscapes, which can be quite different. “By mountain standards, the front part of my lot is considered flat,” Sifford says. The house sits at the edge of this relatively flat area and straddles a steep slope. He decided the front yard would be his meadow garden.
Learn more about dogtrot houses
While researching local vernacular styles, he found that even though he hadn’t spied one recently, dogtrot houses had a history in the Appalachian region. A dogtrot house is composed of two separate cabins built side by side, connected by a breezeway. The name comes from the idea that when a dog was “too hot to trot,” it could find a cool, shady spot in the breezeway. Today, modernists are drawn to the straightforward and honest structure of these homes as well as the passive cooling provided by the breezeway.
The breezeway also serves as a connection between the front and back landscapes, which can be quite different. “By mountain standards, the front part of my lot is considered flat,” Sifford says. The house sits at the edge of this relatively flat area and straddles a steep slope. He decided the front yard would be his meadow garden.
Learn more about dogtrot houses
Sifford’s standard poodles, Sonoma and Amador, enjoy the dogtrot. “There is always a breeze blowing through here,” he says. The two large barn doors close off the dogtrot on windier days. There’s also a fireplace and wood storage inside the breezeway.
Owens clad the exterior in 1-by-6-inch vertical cedar siding with a black stain. The roof is standing-seam metal. “You see a lot of black barns in Appalachia. They help the tobacco cure better,” Sifford says of the color choice. “And I love the backdrop black provides for all of the colors in the garden.”
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Owens clad the exterior in 1-by-6-inch vertical cedar siding with a black stain. The roof is standing-seam metal. “You see a lot of black barns in Appalachia. They help the tobacco cure better,” Sifford says of the color choice. “And I love the backdrop black provides for all of the colors in the garden.”
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Meadow Garden
This is the view from the dogtrot up toward the road during the fall. Sifford is keeping his project page on Houzz updated with new photos as the meadow garden continues to fill and change with the seasons, so this story shows the garden during different times of year.
This part of the property had to be cleared for a septic field. Sifford took it as an opportunity to create the meadow garden. Sometimes he jokingly calls it “the septic garden.” Even so, something septic never looked so good. “I looked at this garden as a big canvas for color and texture,” he says. He was careful to avoid plants with far-reaching roots, to protect the septic system.
This is the view from the dogtrot up toward the road during the fall. Sifford is keeping his project page on Houzz updated with new photos as the meadow garden continues to fill and change with the seasons, so this story shows the garden during different times of year.
This part of the property had to be cleared for a septic field. Sifford took it as an opportunity to create the meadow garden. Sometimes he jokingly calls it “the septic garden.” Even so, something septic never looked so good. “I looked at this garden as a big canvas for color and texture,” he says. He was careful to avoid plants with far-reaching roots, to protect the septic system.
Black modern Adirondack chairs set in a semicircle provide a spot for enjoying the garden and full sun. Sifford loves to enjoy coffee in the morning and wine in the evening here. And the project has made it easy to connect with neighbors. While the area is a mix of farms, ranch houses, cabins and manufactured homes, the black dogtrot house stands out. “People on the road stop to talk to me and take pictures,” he says. “They even knock on my door and ask me questions sometimes.”
The designer choreographed plants in an array of colors that change with the seasons. The meadow garden has junipers and pines that provide hues of green year-round. Perennials add lots of purples, pinks and yellows in spring and summer. There’s a wide range of foliage that goes from light green to burgundy to brown through spring, summer and fall. And a mix of grasses adds softness and movement until the snow falls. Plants like redtwig dogwood (Cornus sericea) and coral bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’) provide winter interest and stand out against the black walls and the white snow covering the ground. Sifford has provided a thorough plant list for the meadow garden divided into categories.
Major players: Fountain grass (Pennisetum orientale ‘Karley Rose’), ornamental onion (Allium ‘Millenium’), tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata ‘Zagreb’), sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’), blazing star (Liatris spicata), blunt mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), shore juniper (Juniperus conferta ‘Golden Pacific’), Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Denim ’n Lace’), feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’) and ‘Black Pearl’ coral bells (Heuchera hybrid)
Punctuation and rhythm: Weeping white spruce (Picea glauca ‘Pendula’), prostrate blue spruce (Picea pungens ‘Prostrata’), mugo pine (Pinus mugo ‘Valley Cushion’), barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Golden Rocket’) and Black Tower elderberry (Sambucus nigra ‘Eiffel 1’)
The designer choreographed plants in an array of colors that change with the seasons. The meadow garden has junipers and pines that provide hues of green year-round. Perennials add lots of purples, pinks and yellows in spring and summer. There’s a wide range of foliage that goes from light green to burgundy to brown through spring, summer and fall. And a mix of grasses adds softness and movement until the snow falls. Plants like redtwig dogwood (Cornus sericea) and coral bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’) provide winter interest and stand out against the black walls and the white snow covering the ground. Sifford has provided a thorough plant list for the meadow garden divided into categories.
Major players: Fountain grass (Pennisetum orientale ‘Karley Rose’), ornamental onion (Allium ‘Millenium’), tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata ‘Zagreb’), sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’), blazing star (Liatris spicata), blunt mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), shore juniper (Juniperus conferta ‘Golden Pacific’), Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia ‘Denim ’n Lace’), feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’) and ‘Black Pearl’ coral bells (Heuchera hybrid)
Punctuation and rhythm: Weeping white spruce (Picea glauca ‘Pendula’), prostrate blue spruce (Picea pungens ‘Prostrata’), mugo pine (Pinus mugo ‘Valley Cushion’), barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Golden Rocket’) and Black Tower elderberry (Sambucus nigra ‘Eiffel 1’)
Minor players: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Standing Ovation’), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii ‘Red October’), cheddar pinks (Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’), blue-green sedge (Carex flacca ‘Blue Zinger’), cranesbill (Geranium ‘Rozanne’), Japanese iris (Iris ensata ‘Variegata’) and other irises, panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Phantom’), lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia ‘Phenomenal’), meadow sage (Salvia pratensis ‘Midnight Model’), beardtongue (Penstemon ‘Midnight Masquerade’), New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Purple Dome’), betony (Stachys officinalis ‘Hummelo’), gaura (Gaura lindheimeri ‘Belleza’), purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow Wild Berry’ and E. purpurea ‘Magnus’), lyme grass (Leymus arenarius ‘Blue Dune’), eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana ‘Grey Owl’), coastal sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’), blue holly (Ilex x meserveae ‘Blue Princess’), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia ‘American Gold Rush’), Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium dubium ‘Baby Joe’), Panther ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) and Ginger Wine ninebark (P. opulifolius ‘Ginger Wine’)
Browse Adirondack chairs in the Houzz Shop
Browse Adirondack chairs in the Houzz Shop
Tickseed (Coreopsis sp.) and allium blanket the garden with color during late spring and early summer.
This photo shows the structure the plants provide in the front yard.
The black siding provides a dramatic backdrop for a variety of textures from evergreens, grasses, Japanese maples and coral bells.
Entry Path
An aluminum portal frames the view of a winding gravel path that leads from the driveway to the breezeway. “The portal lets you know you are entering a special place,” Sifford says. He treated the path like a rock garden design, creating a rhythm in the gravel with contrasting pavers and boulders he brought from Charlotte.
An aluminum portal frames the view of a winding gravel path that leads from the driveway to the breezeway. “The portal lets you know you are entering a special place,” Sifford says. He treated the path like a rock garden design, creating a rhythm in the gravel with contrasting pavers and boulders he brought from Charlotte.
The area in front of the breezeway is marked by a colorful glass sculpture by Seattle artist Jesse Kelly. “The sculpture is a cool artsy focal point, on axis with the dogtrot,” he says. Blue spruces repeat the color of the glass in the garden.
The actual dogtrot area of the home serves as a breezeway and the entry. It creates a strong connection between the meadow garden and the wooded ravine out back. The space is a cooling-off spot during the summer and a protected spot for warming up in the winter, thanks to a fireplace on the right. There’s a clear view across the deck to the tree canopy behind the house. Gridded black deck railings nod to vernacular hog-wire fencing and keep the views to the canopy open.
Find a local deck and patio specialist
Find a local deck and patio specialist
The siting of the house immerses Sifford in his beloved rhododendrons even when he’s inside. Some of these are about 25 feet high.
Check out more photos of the home’s interiors
Check out more photos of the home’s interiors
This photo shows how the house straddles the steep slope.
Bog Gardens
To navigate the slope, Sifford installed steps that wind down to the bogs and the stream.
To navigate the slope, Sifford installed steps that wind down to the bogs and the stream.
Along the stairway, Sifford filled in empty areas between the native plants with ferns, sedge (Carex oshimensis ‘Everillo’) and foamflower (Tiarella sp.). “They provide a cascading effect on the slope,” he says. A new bridge crosses one of the two bogs.
“I wanted something more Giverny green for the bridge, but it came out teal. I’d never used it before but decided I liked it,” he says.
“I wanted something more Giverny green for the bridge, but it came out teal. I’d never used it before but decided I liked it,” he says.
Sifford marked the end of the journey down the stairs and across the bog with a sculpture by Indonesian artist Timboel. “I feel like he is looking at all the cool plants and is ready to dive into a sea of green,” he says. “I feel like this walk is a philosophical and spiritual experience.”
Sculpture: “Outstretched Arms” by Timboel, Phillips Collection
Sculpture: “Outstretched Arms” by Timboel, Phillips Collection
Throughout the process, Sifford was careful to protect the native plants, such as these beautiful dimpled trout lilies (Erythronium umbilicatum).
Just beyond the sculpture is a casual seating area where Sifford and his guests can enjoy the sound of the stream behind it. He found the green Adirondack chairs on Houzz.
“Coming here stimulates my creativity,” he says. “I find I both lose myself and find myself here. I’m always a better person for it. The plants and land have taught me so much.”
“Coming here stimulates my creativity,” he says. “I find I both lose myself and find myself here. I’m always a better person for it. The plants and land have taught me so much.”
As mentioned, Sifford will continue to add new photos and videos to the project’s page on Houzz as the plants mature and the seasons change. This shot shows off the spectacular backdrop of the mountain in fall 2020. Watch things as they grow and change with the seasons.
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Wondering about the skinny pavers that run part way across the paths. I'm sure there is a purpose. Makes an interesting effect.
Hi thinkof129. The stone plinths do several things. First, they pull the lines of the vertical siding off of the house and into the garden, creating a dialogue between the two. Second, they create rhythm in the garden. I believe that when a garden has rhythm through meaningful repetition that the garden's rhythm connects with our unique internal rhythm (heart rate, pulse, breathing patterns, songs in our heads) and, as a result, we feel positive emotions in the space. And thirdly, they break up the long expanse of gravel, adding interest to the pathway.
Hope this helps.
To all you fans of this garden, it's amazing how much it's changed since this story posted. Jay has been really generous about updating the photos of the project through the seasons and years and you can keep tabs on it here:
https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/crafting-a-mountain-garden-called-rhodwood-pj-vj~5305225