Enter at the Rusty Oak stone sign with our insignia carved in stainless, annuals popping in the foreground, flanked by Stellas on either side, Mariesii Viburnums to the rear and framed by Regal Prince Oak.
Head down the drive facing our home with a Boxwood-lined flowerbed to the right encircling a Kwanzan Cherry, Japanese Maple, Kousa Dogwood and with Hosta and Stellas blooming away to their heart's content. To the left there is a Pin Oak in the foreground and behind the Gargoyle Lamp Post stands our 45 foot Purple European Beech Tree given to Karen by Mario as a birthday present some 40 years ago.
And here is the 45 foot Purple European Beech Tree at Christmas time, illuminated with 45,000 lights as a tribute to the human spirit, making it look, for all to see, like an exploding firecracker!
In the courtyard approaching the Rusty Oak barn, the Weeping Higan Cherries are blooming profusely before their leaves unfold creating a sea of pink on mounds built to encompass the courtyard and the sidewalk leading to the office.
At the private Visitor Parking Lot to the right of their home and behind the stone wall which banks the raised flower bed, is a cluster of Brandywine Flowering Crabs in full bloom with wonderful stones accenting the bed, clusters of Hydrangea beneath the crab trees and a sea of flowering Daylilies backed by Hicksii Taxus lining the stone sidewalk.
Be welcomed on to the Bluestone Lower Patio and be surrounded by natural stone walls over which our Weeping Louisa Flowering Crab Tree is delightfully draped. The raised flower bed is filled with white annuals encircling the Black Gum Tree with its delicate leaves which turn a wonderful bright red color in the Fall and the patio pot is brimming with Lipstick Impatiens and Vinca Vine. There are also perennial plantings of Hosta and annuals, including Victoria Salvia to the right of Louisa.
Still on the Bluestone Lower Patio, see the Louisa Flowering Crab once again in her glory creating a secluded place underneath her boughs and a natural stone staircase with a Crimson Queen Japanese Maple claiming her spot to the right of the staircase. Big stone urns are filled with Hydrangea and Sweet Potato Vine and the clay pots are filled with annuals like Cleome.
Enjoy the beauty of the Black Gum Tree with its delicate leaves looking fancy and providing shade for the patch of Iris, the Victoria Salvia and the New Guinea Impatiens.
Head up the natural stone staircase peppered with clay pots bursting with annuals and lined with Hicksii Taxus to the right and ahead and Summersweet to the left with a Tricolor Beech peeking out for interest on either side.
Look back over the Hicksii Taxus hedge at a panorama of plants and catch the Tricolor Beech beginning to arch its way across the walkway.
Catch the view of the Green European Beech anchored in a bed of ivy topped to spread broadly across the upper patio for shade and see the pond beyond with Snowdrift Flowering Crabapple Trees in full bloom lining the drive and providing privacy to the backyard scene.
Walk down the sidewalk shaded by a stand of Kousa Dogwood Trees edged with Hosta and look back at the upper patio encircled with HicksiiTaxus and backdropped by the young Tricolor Beech Trees and a sea of green foliage which the background trees provide.
Stand where the sidewalk meets the patio and enjoy the Iris and the large Hosta leaves in the shaded sidewalk bed and look out at the patio beginning to be shaded by the arching branches of the Green European Beech Tree.
Turn left where the sidewalk ends and walk past the Green Laceleaf Japanese Maple on the left to formal Birch Allee lined with Heritage River Birch Trees heading towards the gazebo and fountain.
Pause by the gazebo's end and look out at the main pond with a stone waterfall to the left covered by a Weeping Snow Fountain Cherry and a Weeping Higan Cherry to the right along with many other varieties including a Crimson Queen Japanese Maple thriving near the water's edge.
Turn right and notice the stand of Snowdrift Flowering Crab providing a beautiful privacy wall on the edge of the drive.
Walk back to the pond and enjoy that Weeping Higan Cherry tree blooming a light pink in Spring on the lake mound and drooping towards the water's edge with a Royal Star Magnolia to the right blooming with popping white color.
Stand alongside the stone waterfall and see the Weeping Snow Fountain Cherry cascading over the natural stone providing a light pink to white bloom in early Spring that sparkles at the water's edge.
Head back towards the nursery office and see the woodsy natural looking stream bed fronted by a Purple Cascade Beech, Snowmound Spirea, natural stone and a clump River Birch Tree.
Look down the natural looking stream bed with Ivy groundcover and evergreen trees including Serbian Spruce to the left and lined with Clump River Birch Trees to the right as it curves gently behind the barn.
Head back to ATS Lake where you will be greeted by a S. Carolina style beach demarked by a stand of Miscanthus Grass with a boat house to the left and a fishing pier and patio to the right, the entire lake being encircled by a mound planted with many species of beautiful trees.
Stand beside the clump River Birch Tree by a mound of natural stone near the fishing pier and see the beautiful array of trees lining the entire lakefront.
Walk onto the patio fronted by a mound of natural stone and look toward the beach and the boathouse and see the grass pathway between the plantings beginning with a Sweetbay Magnolia and many other species of shrubs and trees.
Turn right at the patio's end and walk the grass pathway with trees and shrubs on either side providing a serene and interesting walk around the entire lake.
Pause at the far end of the boomerang lake and look back at the panorama of trees planted on lake mounding with stone accents and gravel edge for crispness.
