Bill and Pat Taylor’s garden in Edmonds is divided into rooms — all of them with a view.
No, he’s not a fan of E.M. Forster’s 1908 novel “A Room With A View,” but Bill does follow several principles of design: A garden should be explored, have a sense of humor and be a bit dangerous.
Their Edmonds garden has perfected all three: It feels like a secluded retreat the moment you walk through an arbor.
The Taylor garden is one of six featured on the Edmonds in Bloom’s 25th anniversary garden tour on July 18. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 the day of the tour.
“We designed the garden so that you can’t see it from the deck,” said Bill Taylor said, who with his wife founded the SE Asia Foundation. “You have to get out and explore it.”
Taylor separated the property into garden rooms using plants and structures. You literally can’t see the landscape without following winding pathways under arbors, through fences and around hedges.
You might wander into the Hobbit House, made from the branches of a black locust tree and hung with a chandelier.
A fish pond is one of many features found in the garden at Bill and Pat Taylor’s home in Edmonds. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
Or find humor in his “damn rock” that sticks out like a sore thumb. Various artwork installed in unlikely spots, meant to be suprises for visitors, also lend whimsy.
When the Taylors bought this home in 1992, the garden was mostly lawn with flowerbed borders. The “showstopper” was and still is a rare dove tree the couple inherited from the previous owner.
It was a nice garden, but Bill had ideas of his own.
After transforming the garden from 1992 to 2002 — now Bill works to maintain the vision — the quarter-acre landscape features Japanese maples, conifers, rock work, a waterfall with a stream system and a pond.
The landscape also has a greenhouse, a compost bin system and several rows of raised beds for growing fruits, vegetables and flowers.
Other design principles found in the Taylor garden:
Every vista should have a chair, and every chair should have a vista. Therefore, benches and rocks provide seating throughout the Taylor garden.
It establishes a sense of profusion in the midst of hard lines. Pathways, fences and hedges provide structure, a frame for a profusion of plants in the garden. The hard lines give the eye places to settle.
Bill plants for year-round interest. His garden seems as if it was painted with a variety of greens. Each month, at least one plant is in bloom. If not in bloom, a plant might hold interest through texture or fragrance.
An angel statue is one of many to be searched for in the garden at Bill and Pat Taylor’s home. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
This is the third time the Taylor garden has been selected for the Edmonds in Bloom self-guided tour.
“He’s designed a wonderful garden,” Pat Taylor said. “I’m pleased that we can share it. Bill’s worked hard to keep it in shape. I’m really proud of him. It brings us both a lot of pleasure just to be able to enjoy it.”
Pat doesn’t do much gardening. “Very little,” she said, with a laugh.
However, when Bill was traveling to Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar for their foundation that sponsors girls’ educations, Pat was left to tend to the garden. She cleaned the pond and hired a lawnmower and checked on the tomatoes.
While she doesn’t help out much, Pat likes to harvest the lavender. She’ll weave the lavender it into wands, which are put in closets and drawers to keep clothes moth-free and fresh-smelling.
What’s Pat’s favorite room in the garden? The one with her clothesline in it.
Her clothesline will be a feature in the July 18 tour. Instead of wet clothes, photos of the Taylor garden during the 10-year transformation will be hanging from the lines.
One of Bill’s favorite retreats is a bench at the base of the pond, where he can watch the koi and goldfish.
The pathway to that bench requires visitors to hop over the stream. Through the years, a few feet have gotten wet. Bill’s included.
“That’s the danger,” he said.
Sara Bruestle: 425-339-3046; sbruestle@heraldnet.com; @sarabruestle.
If you go
Edmonds in Bloom’s 25th Anniverary Garden Tour is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 18. The tour features six private gardens in Edmonds neighborhoods. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 the day of the tour. Purchase tickets online at edmondsinbloom.com or in person at Garden Gear, FIELD and Bountiful Home, all in Edmonds, or at the Sky Nursery in Shoreline. If you’re picking up tickets the day of the tour, they’ll be at the Edmonds in Bloom tent at the Salish Crossing shopping mall in Edmonds.
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