1 of 4
2 of 4
3 of 4
4 of 4
Thomas Schwarztrauber and his partner, Robert Miller, used to live near St. Louis University High School. Then SLU High decided to build a rectory—right where their house stood. They relocated to Dogtown, picking a block lined with perfectly confectionary Edwardian houses built for the World’s Fair. They ripped out terrible carpet, gave the basement a redo, relocated some bees that’d taken up residence on the top floor…
“But the main driver wasn’t the location,” Mr. Schwarztrauber says. “It’s that there was no alley in the back—we were getting a double-sized lot for a single-lot price.”
Both men work for Nestlé Purina PetCare and are definitely creative young urban types. But they also brew winter tea from summer’s rose hips. In fall, the whole house smells like Sweet Annie artemisia, which Mr. Schwarztrauber dries in a potter’s shed out back. They make harvest salads tossed with apple mint, cultivate a miniature orchard, and as Mr. Schwarztrauber notes with amusement, “attract every stray cat in the neighborhood” with the healthy patch of blue-blossomed catnip they grow next to their front steps.
It’s no surprise to learn that Mr. Schwarztrauber grew up on a farm; the skills he called upon to get the yard into shape, though, are perhaps not the most obvious ones.
“We actually had a row that bisected the farm, and the smaller piece of property was similar in shape, very long and skinny,” he says. “That can be really challenging to work with, so you have to make it into rooms so it doesn’t feel like—well, a bowling alley!” he laughs. “As a child, I always had to trim the evergreens. Twice a year, you’d go out and prune them. The nice thing was, once you trimmed it and topiaried it, life got pretty easy. So as my job got more pressing, I redid the whole yard and did nothing but hollies, evergreens, topiaries, boxwoods.”
The first year they landscaped, he says, they planted lots of perennials and herbs, including asters, foxglove, sage, lavender, and Dame’s Rocket—“which smells awesome,” Mr. Schwarztrauber says, “but it’s kind of floppy and leggy. That can look untidy, and if you have a planting bed that is essentially one-third of your yard, with things flopping over, it can be kind of a nightmare.”
So he and Mr. Miller wholeheartedly embraced “the low-maintenance, evergreen perspective,” installing shrubbery down the length of the yard.
This solved another problem: the shade thrown by a pair of 150-year-old oaks. Evergreens don’t mind partial sun, and look good through the winter, too. “Hollies and iron, that’s the crux,” he says. “Then I’ll use boxwood to call something out. For topiary, I like ball shapes, because once you’ve got it set,
it’s set.”
Architectural elements, including the potter’s shed, a small New England saltbox–style shed, and a glass terrarium (made of antique windows) provide further structure. In spring and summer, the garden pops with color from blossoming redbuds, viburnums, jasmine, hydrangeas, lilies, catmint, lady’s mantle, and white daffodils. Mr. Schwarztrauber sought to create a “watercolor effect” with flowering plants in his two favorite colors, white and purple. That simple palette gives it a clean, tidy look. That approach is evident even in each plant’s placement—the lady’s mantle is planted beneath the hydrangeas to hide the woody stems. “It needed ‘socks,’” Mr. Schwarztrauber laughs.
Because the lot is so long, the near and far ends do get full sun, of which they take full advantage. Near the back porch, they planted a kitchen herb garden that’s very heavy with sage.
“I can’t use it enough,” Mr. Schwarztrauber says. “I’m fascinated by the colors—the cream-variegated, which isn’t all that hardy, and the tricolor, which doesn’t have a great flavor, but it certainly looks beautiful. So does purple. I love to take sage and make a tea out of it and then add straight apple juice or cider.”
At the other end of the lot is the “orchard,” where the couple has planted dwarf apple and peach trees, thornless blackberries, and blueberries. In the warm months, two baker’s racks hold huge, lush pots of basil; they also grow garlic, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other vegetables for Italian cooking. In order to keep the blackberries from wandering (“Most people call that invasive,” Mr. Schwarztrauber says. “I call it ‘friendly’”) he planted them in giant galvanized pots. “I took a drill and blew the bottom out, so that it can drain but not escape, and then I sank the galvanized containers into the ground so that they would be frostproof,” Mr. Schwarztrauber explains. The entire orchard is contained within an impressive-looking metal cage, modeled on the flight cage in Forest Park. Though it is lovely to behold (they’ve even set up a little patio area nearby), the cage was mainly designed to keep out the local menagerie of critters. Mr. Schwarztrauber says he and Mr. Miller are “swimming in” fauna, including possums, raccoons, crows, and the aforementioned stray cats. It’s the squirrels, however, that take the largest toll.
“There was a time when I just loved having lots of bulbs. Tulips, lilies, you name it,” Mr. Schwarztrauber says. But no more. “That’s a squirrel’s main food crop going into winter,” he observes wryly. “I had never been a big daffodil fan—until they started coming out with more scented white varieties, which are toxic to squirrels, and they will not eat them, which is why I ended up with huge clumps of daffodils throughout the yard.”
Mr. Schwarztrauber has become something of an expert on outsmarting Sciurus carolinensis. They don’t like blood meal, one of his favorite fertilizers. And he plants his lilies in pots, which he then sinks into the ground. The squirrels haven’t figured that one out, at least not yet.
Though the garden will undergo a couple of changes this spring (a common redbud that hasn’t blossomed for two years will be swapped out for a ‘Forest Pansy’ variety; the American bittersweet that used to climb the orchard cage will be replaced with clematis), it’s fairly complete now. In a way, that may be a relief to Mr. Schwarztrauber and Mr. Miller, since the lot’s greatest virtue was also a challenge: no alley, no easy access.
“The orchard is literally about 70 bags of manure and topsoil that I had to carry through the gangway, because there’s no other way to get back there,” he says. “The backyard has been quite an adventure in physical strength. When we had all the paving stones delivered, they literally just dumped the pallet in the frontyard. You can see the dent—they couldn’t get the Bobcat through the gangway.”
Of course, there’s still the perpetual task of mulching and fertilizing, and the two men hand-carry hundreds of bags of soil and steer manure through the yard as the seasons change.
“It’s one of those feats of strength that happens every spring and fall,” he says, smiling. “But it’s worthwhile—the plants love it.”
Resources: Nurseries: Greenscape Gardens, 2832 Barrett Station, 314-821-2440; Sherwood’s Forest Nursery & Garden Center, 2651 Barrett Station, 314-966-0028; Bayer Garden Shop, 3401 Hampton, 314-781-2314. Plants, Fruits and vegetables: Stark Bros., 20947 U.S. Highway 54, Louisiana, Mo., 573-754-5111. Herbs: Well-Sweep Herb Farm, 908-852-5390. Bulbs: White Flower Farm, 800-503-9624; B&D Lilies, 360-765-4341. Seeds: J.W. Jung Seed Company, 800-297-3123; Burpee Seeds, 800-333-5808.
