Andrea Darr Al Pitzner

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Home trends across the country have prompted more Americans to turn their backyards into outdoor rooms, expanding their homes, increasing their value and getting more overall usage of their property. Gary and Susan Adams couldn’t agree more with this philosophy. Owners of Nature’s Artscapes, Inc., formerly Pure Nature Concepts, the Adamses used their business acumen to transform their own backyard into a lush landscape with distinct and separate areas for eating, entertaining and sunbathing.

“We tried to create different living rooms,” Susan says. “For example, by the water feature we have a flagstone patio with a bistro table and seating for two. We also have a three-level deck we use for barbecues and a stone patio with a fire pit.”

The tiered deck is a result of a steeply sloped site. On the north side of the yard, their property line grades down from a 30 degree angle. As it reaches the next property’s fence line, it levels off where the fire pit is located, a favorite hangout for the Adamses’ teenage son, who enjoys having friends over for roasting marshmallows and hot dogs over the fire. There, he’s able to maintain some privacy and still have awesome views of the surroundings.

The Adamses constructed the pit with Unilock patio pavers, a durable concrete product made to look like natural stone. Tiki torches light up the night sky, however, a new outdoor lighting system should be installed before the Water Garden Society’s annual tour.

They had just barely finished their water garden before last year’s tour, which made available their front and back yards to hundreds of visitors. It took a mere week and a half to complete the project, though the entire yard has been a work in progress for eight years.

Inspired by their site and setting, Gary and Susan spent a year visualizing and planning their water garden. When they meet with clients, they must determine if the water garden will be a shade or sun garden, which will then determine what type of plants can survive and thrive there. For their own purpose, however, there were no options to weigh.

“We didn’t have a choice because of the grown trees in the yard. We had to have a shade garden. This neighborhood was built in the early 1980s, and the trees are one of the reasons I love this neighborhood so much,” Susan says.

Under a “canopy of coolnes,” as she describes, a Savio Living Pond System pumps five gallons of water per hour up to two cascading waterfalls that flow into two streams that join at a small pond, which then spills into a larger pond. Native Kansas Limestone, boulders, cobblestones and Colorado River rocks provide the wall support. Various shade-loving aquatic plants and koi fish thrive there and they aren’t the only ones who benefit.

“I love the sound of water. It’s very soothing and relaxing. There’s something medicinal about it,” Susan adds.

Beside the water garden reside many shrubs, perennials and annuals. They uprooted many of the plants on the slope, including hostas and azaleas, to shape the water basins, which they later replanted and added to, and transplanted some rhododendrons from other areas of the yard. New plantings include juniper, boxwood, holly and hydrangea. To punctuate the greenness with some color, they added impatiens, begonias, coleus, phlox, petunias, and vinca and English ivy for ground cover.

“We took the natural elements of the existing yard and mixed old ground cover with new plantings,” she explains. “This way it looks as if it’s always been here. The different sizes and shapes of the same plants, especially the different ages, make it look natural.”

A lot of what Nature’s Artscapes does involves low-maintenance, Midwest plantings. “This gives you four-season color and it will last 10-15 years. You do it once and you’re done,” Susan explains.

A home requires enough upkeep, a garden maybe even more. Who wants to clean up two houses? With four living rooms, Susan prefers the simplest route possible. This way, she gets to do more actual living in her “living” rooms.