The first thing that strikes anyone arriving at Trowbridge House on the western edge of Peterborough is the gardens – the different colours, shapes, sizes and textures of the plants and flowers in the gardens.

“I love colour,” said Laura Trowbridge as she led a tour of the garden. “And I love big plants and the feeling that I can walk right into the garden and the plants are as big as me. It’s a kind of illusion because although it looks kind of wild and out of control, that’s intentional and in reality it’s all totally controlled.”

Trowbridge, a professional garden and landscape designer with over 20 years of experience, loves unusual plants and mixes annuals, perennials and shrubs. Every square foot in her garden can include common annuals like zinnias, exotic plants that spend the summer outside like a prized banana tree, and unusual specimens like castor bean. On the west side of the house, the lawn slopes down to provide expansive views.

“When we moved in, there was nothing out here except the stone wall, and I knew immediately that I had to put a garden there. And I knew it had to be a big, colorful garden that filled this space with so much open sky,” Trowbridge said.

Trowbridge designed the gardens to reflect the different areas of the house. The wilder gardens at the rear counterbalance the modern, glass-filled extension, while the more traditional gardens at the front complement the original 1765 Cape House section. Over the years, Trowbridge’s gardens have been featured in regional and national publications, and she herself has written about the garden for Fine Gardening magazine and other publications.

Trowbridge said she “immediately felt at home” when she and her husband Jamie entered the house in 1997.

“I grew up in an old house just like this in Massachusetts,” Trowbridge said.

When they bought the house, the Trowbridges had four children under the age of eight.

“For the first few years, we spent all our time crammed into the tiny original kitchen,” Trowbridge said. “And as the kids grew and we needed more space, we had to decide whether to move out or add on to the house. The only thing I didn’t like about this house was that it was dark, like most houses on the Cape. So we added on to let in as much light as possible.”

In 2001, the Trowbridges completed an extension on the west side of the house, which included a larger kitchen and sitting area, as well as a master bedroom and bathroom upstairs.

“Now we use the old kitchen for crafts and projects when the grandchildren come to visit,” Trowbridge said. “Our kids just love visiting this house.”

Built in 1765, the house is one of the oldest in Peterborough, and the original residents farmed most of the land in the area. According to Trowbridge, the road to Peterborough Village originally ran right past the side of the house.

“You can see where the road used to be by looking at the big old maple trees. Back then, there were none of the paved roads that exist here today,” she said.

On the west side of the back patio is Trowbridge’s collection of houseplants, many of them tropical and Dr. Seuss-like, some in pots so large they can’t be moved.

“My husband has simply vetoed some of them,” says Trowbridge, laughing. “So with some I dig up the roots and overwinter them in the basement, where they go dormant. The rest I either cut back completely and throw on the compost heap, or I bring them into the house as houseplants for the winter.”

Every fall for years, Laura and Jamie would pack up the plants that didn’t fit in their house, load them onto a trailer and drive them a few miles away to a friend’s house where they spent the winter. When they designed the addition, they deliberately included a “sunny corner” facing southwest where all of their beloved houseplants could be housed until spring.

“Now we don’t even have room for the sofa over there. We need everything for the plants,” said Trowbridge.

Every year, as winter approaches, the Trowbridges change the furniture in the main room, swapping the sofa for the dining table.

“I change everything depending on the season – the art, the rugs, the furniture. It gives the room a new energy,” Laura said. “Most people can’t do that, but for us it’s easy because it’s just a big square room.”

All the artwork in the house was created by family members, from Jamie’s grandmother, the painter BeaTrix Sagendorph, to drawings by the grandchildren. The whole family also helps in the garden, coming every spring to spread mulch and compost. Until recently, the garden had chickens and beehives.

“I had chickens for 35 years,” Laura said. “But then a few years ago the bears found us at home, destroyed my chicken coop and killed all my chickens. We can’t keep bees anymore either.”

Trowbridge credits her mother with instilling in her a love of gardening, farming and family. She remembers that the only fruits and vegetables her family ate during the winter were her mother’s homemade jams and preserves.

“My mother lived off the land before it became such a trend,” she said. “I love having a comfortable home. A home, a big garden and a family – we had the same priorities growing up. For me, it’s natural.”

For information about Trowbridge, visit lauratrowbridge.com.