Elaine Taylor was named runner-up in the large garden category of the Great Gardens Contest -- without entering.

	Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette photos Small ponds form the centerpiece of David and Elaine Taylor's Slippery Rock garden. Click photo for larger image. Complete List: 2006 Great Garden Contest Winners

Her husband, David, secretly compiled photos of their two-acre Slippery Rock garden and entered for her.

So, winning was the furthest thing from her mind when she showed judges through her park-like garden. All agreed that Mrs. Taylor has created something special in the many years she's been laboring on her plot.

These days, the garden holds multiple paths, three ponds, lots of trees and perennials, and architectural gems such as a large arbor that acts as its focal point.

But you won't find any annuals. That's because Mrs. Taylor decided early on that annuals were just too much work for such a short bloom time. So, she's directed her energies toward plants that survive and thrive more than one season.

When the couple built the home in 1974, the plot had only one acre, most of it heavily shaded by large, mature trees. The daughter of a North Hills nursery owner, Mrs. Taylor came by her love of gardening naturally. She laughingly says she can't stay out of the dirt, so it didn't occur to her not to garden in the shady space.

Whimsical direction signs point the way to special spots. Click photo for larger image.

In 1999, the couple bought the adjacent acre and hired a timber company to come in and take out some of the large trees. The increased light and added space allowed her to expand the garden and grow things she was unable to keep before because of the shady conditions.

Since then, the garden has blossomed, and, like all gardens, continues to be a work in progress.

She says that she never really had an overall plan for her creation, she just relied on her own artistic vision. However, she did know a few things that she wanted to incorporate in the space.

"I knew I wanted privacy, so I started planting evergreens to provide screening along the border of the property."

She also knew she wanted water and a bridge, so she added the three ponds and the wooden footbridge. The walkways that allow visitors to wander through the peaceful garden just evolved, she says.

Her plant selections are driven by what she likes; she has a great fondness for flowering trees, so under the largest trees she's planted a selection of cherries, dogwoods and crabapples and a redbud she started from seed.

	The rear of David and Elaine Taylor's Slippery Rock home overlooks a small goldfish pond with the garden (not seen) filling the entire back yard. Click photo for larger image.

Mrs. Taylor also likes the structure and texture of conifers. Her favorite, placed as a specimen, is an Alaskan cypress, but she also has pines, arborvitae and other conifers. There are also lots of rhododendrons and azaleas.

She has a large collection of astilbes and daylilies, some of her favorite flowers because of their cheerful, prolific blooms and their resistance to pests and disease. One thing she no longer tries to grow is a favorite, delphiniums.

"They just proved too hard," she says with a smile.

She also gave up on clematis.

"They didn't want to grow," she says.

So she replaced them with several cultivars of honeysuckle, which she says proved to be colorful, fragrant and, most important, reliable.

"The plants tell you what they want," she says.

And a good gardener is smart enough to listen.

Fifteen years ago, when she retired from a career in real estate, she devoted herself full time to the space. Just recently, when her husband retired from Slippery Rock University, where he was an analytical chemistry professor, Mrs. Taylor started thinking about giving up the garden because the work was getting to be too much for one person.

To her delight, her husband threw himself into the hobby. Now, she often looks out the window after she gets out of bed to find him already hard at work.

"He took to gardening like a duck takes to water," she says.

He recently installed a huge electric fence to keep deer away. They have a list of chores, including moving plants and changing a few other things. Now that fall has arrived, they're both busy.

Though, she says with a laugh, "I'm still the main decision-maker."

Which is probably why they do so well as a team.