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How Does Their Garden Grow?

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By PENNY BRAGG

Special to the Tribune

Published: August 13, 2008

PLANT CITY - The Plant City Garden Club presented its June beautification award to Peg and Steve Dobrovic of 579 Country Meadow Road. Their use of a variety of textures, colors, sizes and shapes has turned a modest-sized front yard into a garden delight.

Steve Dobrovic said he didn't even know he was a gardener before he started moving things, deleting things and adding things, and finally coming up with a finished product that looks like he studied landscape architecture for years. Of course, a garden is never a finished product; it is a dynamic scene that evolves with the seasons.

It started when the Dobrovics moved into their new home a few years ago and were bothered by the fact that all of the tall plantings were down front and the smaller plantings and the house were hidden from view. So two big trees and tall bushes were taken out, the boxwood hedge was moved to the side and a large patch of coleus teamed with pink- and yellow-blossomed lantana took their place.

The effect was so friendly and pleasing that other changes started happening.

The gardens are on either side of a lighted and serpentine walkway with gentle curves leading from the street to the house. The walkway is made of octagonal pavers rimmed by a decorative terra-cotta bull-nose curbing. A small area of lawn is at the front and on the left side of the yard, but the plantings and sculptures are displayed on beds of light-colored pebbles.

The garden design consists of loosely defined rows of different plantings. First there is a grouping of Joseph's coat, which has dark green leaves as a constant, and other leaves that change intermittently between orange and red. In back of that grouping are individually rounded gold mound duranta bushes, which are striking with their brilliant chartreuse color. Beyond those bushes is a field of camellias, which bloom throughout the winter and fall.

The next rows include blue daze and plumbago, and against the house are several tall and narrow evergreens. These serve as a backdrop for a sculpture, about four feet high, of a toga-clad woman standing among the plumbago and holding a watering urn.

A number of yard art items are placed here and there. An old pelican next to a birdbath with a plant in it is off to the side yard. In the middle of the yard is a shepherd's hook with a hanging plant bearing abundant purple flowers. At the beginning of the walkway is a giant, white ceramic frog that is next to a green-topped whimsical mushroom. A creamy-white ceramic swan is a planter that was made by the Dobrovics' daughter as a gift to Peg's mother and it now graces the Dobrovics' gardens.

Across the walkway is an angel that was given to Peg Dobrovic by a friend and now stands beside a curly-leafed croton.

Large topiaries, crafted by Steve Dobrovic, grow on each side of the front door. On the right side of the door is a black, filigreed wrought iron railing leading up the steps at a diagonal angle, creating a charming effect, especially with the potted plants that are placed on the far side of the railing on supports of graduating heights so they can ascend the stairs with the railing.

Here you will see chicken-and-hen plants, impatiens, pentas, fern, crown of thorns, a small potted palm and a rubber tree plant.

Steve Dobrovic, a retired pilot, has created a low-voltage lighting system and the intricate watering system. Usually it is wise to plant things with similar watering needs together; however, Dobrovic has made this precaution unnecessary by running a network of tubing to each plant with the capability of custom-watering the plants according to their individual needs.

At the back of the house, a stately Norfolk pine greets you at the foot of the stairs up to the deck. The pine was very small when it was transplanted to its current spot from Peg Dobrovic's mother's house. It stands about 20 feet tall. The deck is cantilevered out over the waters of a large pond, and its railings have been outfitted with platforms to accommodate plants on all three sides of the deck.

On the railing is a tray bearing the plants that have sprung from seeds that Steve Dobrovic has planted, including three kinds of dates and a nut and an apple sprout. Along the railing are hanging plants or plants in various vessels such as terra-cotta pots, ceramic pots, long wooden planters and others. There are three Christmas cactus plants, a spider plant with babies and day lilies from Peg Dobrovic's mother's garden.

One large wooden rectangular planter is filled with aloe vera plants while another is home to an extensive herb garden, which is next to a plant that is effective as a bug repellent.

On a three-tiered plant stand, orchids are in small crates. A large wall-mounted starfish is one of several seascape items, and candles are everywhere. All this surrounds a table and chairs for entertaining or just enjoying the outdoors.

Penny Bragg is a member of the Plant City Garden Club.

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