A clump of pink and orange impatiens seems to grow from the rushing stream that cuts through the patio at Bill and Norma Jean Shaw's house in Upper St. Clair.

	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette photos A bridge over the pond connects the home's original patio with a newer one. Click photo for larger image. Complete List: 2006 Great Garden Contest Winners

"What a great idea! Who planted it there?" a visitor asks.

Dr. Shaw blushes a little.

"Nobody. It's a volunteer," his wife says, smiling.

After all of their careful plant selection, hard work and patience, an exuberant accident gets the praise. But knowing enough to let it be? They'll take a little credit for that.

Impatiens, the most common of annuals, are scattered throughout this three-quarter-acre yard, a co-winner in the large garden category of the Great Gardens contest. They're scattered in clumps and containers with white-leaved caladium, hostas, liriope and other shade-garden favorites.

The Shaws stand on a flagstone patio that was added when Dr. Shaw extended the pond. Behind them, impatiens volunteers straddle a stream that cuts through the patio. Click photo for larger image.

Anchoring the beds and framing views are Japanese and red maples, dogwoods, rhododendrons, roses, hydrangeas, Harry Lauder's walking stick (Corylus avellana 'Contorta') and other fairly common shrubs and trees.

Clearly, rare plants aren't the reason the Shaws' garden is a first-place winner. What makes it special is the way everything accentuates the garden's focal point -- two waterfalls filling a piano-shaped pond that nestles comfortably into the paver patio.

Then you find out that nearly the entire back yard was designed and built by Dr. Shaw, a dentist with no garden training. Well, wouldn't you call that a winner?

This exuberant amateur spent more than a year at his kitchen table, designing the house that was built in 1976. That first summer, he hand-dug a small pond and stacked native sandstone to make the waterfall.

"He was out there working like a dog," said his wife.

Dr. Shaw chose all of the trees in the back yard, including a row of peach, pear and three kinds of apple, Macintosh and Golden Delicious and Granny Smith (his favorites).

	A lotus waves gently next to a waterfall in Bill and Norma Jean Shaw's garden in Upper St. Clair. It flowers in August with a large pink peony-like bloom. Click photo for larger image.

For more than 20 years, he continued to add shrubs and perennials, while Mrs. Shaw, "the flower planter," chose the annuals. And he mowed the grass, lamenting when it failed in the shade and cursing when big rains turned the lawn into a swamp at the edge of the patio.

Finally, three years ago, he saw the light: Why not banish the threadbare, sometimes swampy grass and extend the pond to the edge of the patio? He didn't have to hand-dig this time; a contractor with a Bobcat was already at work on the driveway and retaining wall.

Within two months, the Shaws had two waterfalls, a pond that holds about 5,000 gallons and a footbridge connecting the old patio to a new, smaller flagstone patio.

Soon, the Porsche owner and veteran golfer was into another expensive hobby -- raising koi. Making the rounds of water garden nurseries and pet stores around the region, he ended up with about 60 koi and fancy goldfish -- "all stars, not a bit player in the bunch," he said proudly.

He planted lotus, parrotfeather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) and waterlilies, bought two large pumps and rigged a series of filters that he must clean out at least once a day.

An accident while the couple was on vacation reduced the school to about 30 fish, mostly goldfish with a few large koi. Like dogs, they circle beneath Dr. Shaw, hoping for something to eat. He'd like to add some more large koi, but he is very picky; he'd rather buy the ones in the nurseries' display ponds than the smaller ones for sale. Next spring, to better show off his fish, he plans to cover the bottom of his pond with white "goose egg"-sized river rock.

The couple have hired David Alexandrowicz of NaturesBest Landscaping to plant the front and the side yards, but the back yard is still Dr. Shaw's domain.

Twenty years ago, he planted several kinds of blueberries along the back of the house. Then, when he got tired of winged and furry thieves stealing the berries, he installed a framework of PVC pipe and draped deer netting around it. His son laughed, but the contraption works.

"All for me, none for the birds," Dr. Shaw said, smiling.

He doesn't expect to win the war against wildlife, but he's a patient man. He'll wait them out.

"Impatiens are great. Deer eat them and they come right back."

And sometimes, they even plant themselves.