A long vista of stone walkway leads to the cupola-topped English conservatory, squeezed into the far back garden where the garage used to be.

FROM THE STREET, you see only a garage smothered in roses and a fence laced with apple trees. But it is the enclosed back garden, hidden from the street, that distinguishes Ginny Schuett and Dick Kronmal's corner property from its neighbors in the Sand Point Country Club, where expanses of grass and shrubbery borders reign.

Behind the fence, the couple has created an atmosphere half-a-world away — a mini-English estate. Classically hedged, flowery and formal, the garden unfolds through a little orchard, vistas of roses, statuary and arbors, with a peak-roofed conservatory at its heart. Inside the glass house, cushioned wicker chairs, potted plants and entrapped warmth conjure inviting images of tea trays and cozy afternoons. The whole package is so believably British that it won The English Garden magazine's 2004 first prize for the best English garden in North America.

An arbor laced with the fragrant Romantica climbing rose ‘Colette’ on one side and the purple Clematis ‘Etoile Violette’ on the other leads from the garden’s grassy forecourt into the more intensely planted section of roses, perennials and hydrangeas.

The transformation of the ranch house and featureless garden began germinating when Kronmal, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Washington, spent 1991-92 at the University of Southampton on sabbatical. He and Schuett fell in love with English gardens.

"Neither of us ever related to the more naturalistic style in the Pacific Northwest," explains Schuett of their enthusiasm for enclosure and formality.

The couple returned home with a half-container of English antiques and a newfound passion for plants and gardens. After remodeling their 1949 home, they set to work outside by planting 500 dwarf boxwoods. A few of the older plantings, such as camellias, enkianthus, some rhododendrons and a dogwood were saved to lend an air of maturity to the new garden. The boxwood hedges have grown to delineate the garden's straight-edge formality while containing summery surges of delphinium, roses and hydrangeas.

The conservatory’s bluestone floors, wicker furnishings and windows everywhere create a warm and inviting spot year-round to enjoy the garden, as well as a light-filled entry to the house.

"Suddenly we had all these living things to care for . . . and I didn't have a clue about how to do this," says Schuett, a nutritionist and cookbook author who quickly realized her naïveté about garden maintenance. She bought books and subscribed to magazines, took classes, visited gardens and joined garden organizations as part of a self-designed crash course in gardening. Eight years later, she says her life revolves around the seasons and the needs of the garden. Kronmal cares for the apples while Schuett prunes the topiaries (rosemary, bay laurel and yew) and tends the flowers and vegetables. They hire out mowing the lawn and clipping the boxwood hedges, which takes about 20 hours in late May.

A rusted birdbath punctuates hosta foliage and Astilbe ‘Red Sentinel.’ The purple leaves in the background are one of the showiest knotweeds, Persicaria ‘Red Dragon.’

As she's become a more sophisticated gardener, Schuett has changed out many of the early plantings, seeking unusual varieties of flowers, more and more roses, and better color progression through the seasons.

She and Kronmal installed the arbor, bench, statuary and fountain after the plantings went in, completing the scene with the grand flourish of building what must be the ultimate garden accessory. They tore down and moved their garage to squeeze in the custom-built conservatory, inspired by memories of a glassed-in dining room in the former bishop's mansion where they lived during their English sojourn.

After much research, they ordered the glass house from Oak Leaf Conservatories of York, England. Shipped in bits and pieces swathed in bubble wrap and wooden crates, the conservatory was built by a crew shipped in from England, too. The couple imported not only the concept of an English garden's formality and flowers, but also the Brits' fine idea of enjoying the garden indoors through glass even on the drizzliest of days.

Espaliered apple trees soften the fence and bear four kinds of apples: Jonagold, Gravenstein, Melrose and Spartan.

A Northwest yard is made essentially English

How did a Seattle garden earn The English Garden magazine's top honors?

• Walls, hedging and geometry create a sense of formality while lending year-round structure and privacy.

• Abundant summer flowers, and the use of vistas that are effective looking in both directions.

• A mix of edibles and ornamentals. Schuett has a little herb garden outside her kitchen and breakfast room. Espaliered apple trees, berries and a salad garden of lettuces, tomatoes and carrots are tucked into the side garden.

• Characteristic ornamentation such as statuary, herbs in pots and topiary. Schuett also uses benches, arbors and roses trained to standards as focal points.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and contributing editor for Horticulture magazine. Her e-mail address is valeaston@comcast.net. Barry Wong is a former Seattle Times staff photographer.