Fort Worth woman more than dabbles in backyard artistry

The Japanese Garden at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden has widespread appeal for those who gravitate to soothing outdoor settings, and Paula Henslee is one of its many fans. So it made sense that when it came to designing her own residential garden, she called on some of the design principles found there.

“I’m a laid-back person,” Henslee says. “I wanted something peaceful and quiet. Busy enough to be interesting to your eye but not overwhelming.”

Henslee’s Sunset Heights property is good-sized with borders developed in layers of Liriope, Chinese fringe flower and Nelly R. Stevens hollies. By happenstance, the back border saw a little redevelopment this year when her neighbor removed two trees and the electric company trimmed her own — changing a previously shady space into a sunny one.

Henslee added two crepe myrtles for height, then a blanket of coral drift roses below. For additional interest, she purchased three oversized pots from Tom Thumb and created colorful, lush container plantings. One pot overflows with hot-colored gold and orange lantana and hibiscus contrasted with cool purple pentas and purple sweet potato vine. Another container features the bushy forms of hot pink pentas and tutti-frutti lantana dominated by a tall, red-edged dracaena.

“My love of gardening started with container plants over forty years ago,” Henslee explains. “I love buying the pots and deciding what I’m going to put in them.”

As for the daily demands of hand-watering her 17 large container gardens, Henslee is cheerfully up to the challenge.

“Because it’s a living thing, I feel like it’s a part of me,” she says. “I want to keep it going and enjoy it.”

The garden’s focal point is a deck area Henslee installed several years ago. Originally, the space was covered by an unused and unwelcoming concrete patio, but she scoured books from Lowe’s on deck design and settled on an angled deck that opens to her yard. Broad steps are framed with wooden planters on either side while a long bench clad in matching planking delineates the deck’s edge. Flagstones floating in small rocks form an apron below.

As an amateur (but enthusiastic) student of design, Henslee decorated the space with features she read are complementary to a deck. Various large terra cotta pots hold Kimberly or asparagus ferns and creeping Charlie — “plants that make a beautiful backdrop for flowers,” she notes.

Behind the bench a tall, stained-concrete fountain fabricated to resemble bamboo provides the soothing sound of running water. Giving Henslee some of that Japanese garden ambiance she covets, the fountain is quietly nestled beneath the shade of a vibrant red Japanese maple and surrounded by waxy green elephant ears and the colorful long arms of croton.

Like many landscape enthusiasts, Henslee likes to pull the inside outside, so she decorated her outdoor areas with the same colors that dominate her home’s interiors. Aqua cushions paired with an umbrella and a rug in the same pattern create a cohesive color scheme that stretches from the deck to the covered sitting area. Henslee also stayed with aqua for the iron table and chairs as well as the iron mirror on the wall.

The privacy fence around her yard is dotted with more art — items like a large, rust-colored sun, two floral panels and an oversized piece of iron scrollwork. Garden beds feature white concrete Asian statuary as well.

“Art’s very important, inside and outside,” Henslee says.

Her garden area is simple, yet everything has been deliberately designed and selected — including the French doors installed between the kitchen and deck to widen the views.

Henslee considers her yard a place of serenity, but there’s sentiment attached as well. She cites her father, also a gardener, as the inspiration of all her efforts.

“I almost come to tears sometimes. My dad would be so happy with this, but he never got to see it,” she says. “I know how much he would have enjoyed it. It’s been a great blessing.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Fort Worth woman more than dabbles in backyard artistry."