How to Create Timeless Garden Design

Garden designer Troy Rhone used gold pots to give this courtyard garden a rich, timeless feel. They're planted with dwarf Vitex; pencil hollies grow on each side of the fountain. "The pots are sitting on gravel for an almost Moroccan or old-world Persian feel," Rhone says. The manufactured stones in this courtyard, Castle Rock Pavers, resemble travertine limestone. River rocks set in mortar are visible in the foreground.Troy Rhone is a member of ADAC Design Studios, an Atlanta-based group of designers, architects and high-end, custom home builders. ADAC allows clients to collaborate with designers and explore, see and touch products. Troy Rhone is its sole landscape architect/garden designer.

When an Alabama client wanted to enjoy his garden in the wintertime, Rhone built a stone fireplace off his patio. The home, Rhone says, has a rustic feel and is "sort of an island surrounded by formal-style homes. It's completely blocked off, so nobody knows it's there." Creeping fig covers the fireplace and survives even when it's lit, thanks to the cooling properties of the stones. "In summer, the fireplace is filled with pots of begonias." Boston ferns are tucked behind them; Southern wood ferns stand on either of the fireplace.

Rhone selected a green door for this Birmingham guest house, which leads into a garden. The steps are lined with Southern wood ferns, while a combination of vines, including evergreen smilax and Virginia creeper, mingle overhead. English ivy weaves between the treads of the steps.

Located in the center of this front yard, a flower bed makes a bright splash of color against a painted brick home. "Aborvitaes in the back hide a guest parking area, so you don't see it from the street," Rhone says. He designed a mix of annuals and perennials that includes blue salvia, pink vincas, red pentas, and purple angelonias; a container holds a spreading yew. "We wanted a border in front with lots of soft colors because the house is white."