In 2004, when Sally and David Ramert first saw the backyard of their future home in the Fan, they were appalled. Old dog houses were strewn hither and yon, dotting a landscape of fallen trees, scraggly crape myrtles, and less natural debris.

Bluestone cut in different shapes and crushed bluestone paths are both beautiful and low maintenance. The fountain is chiseled granite. Behind it mounted on a wood block is an antique fire bell.

"[The previous owner] hadn't done even any Home Depot remodeling in 20 years," says David who, with wife Sally, owns Metro Modern, a retro furniture store at Cary and Meadow streets.

It almost seemed like a lost cause. But there, in the wasteland that was the backyard, a single, unpretentious Kousa dogwood stood testimony to what had once been and what could be.

Since then, the Ramerts have skillfully and intuitively turned their disheveled yard into a quiet retreat where they put the stresses of the outside world behind them.

"We tried to set it so that the colors change," says David.

Throughout the year, splashes of yellow, hues of blue-green, even ruby and orange emerge and then fade into another hue. Along the fence line, five curly Torulosa junipers and seven towering Italian cypresses add deep color and form.

Above left: A new gate separates the garden from the alley. Above right: Junipers, crape myrtles, and a favorite Celeste fig are a few of the eclectic plant choices.

"You take out the heavy centers, and they grow," David says. It seems much more complicated, but he swears it isn't.

"We chose some Japanese specimens because they are slow growing," David says. Even where ground cover is called for, pachysandra-like Japanese spurge fills in.

A lone Celeste fig is a favorite of Sally's. "Every Italian has to have a fig tree," says Sally Cavallo Ramert. "This one is hardy to zone nine." Having moved from San Diego, the Ramerts were used to meaty Mission figs. Celeste figs are daintier, less voluptuous. In Virginia, where temperatures are fickle, humidity relentless, and frost a real but inconsistent threat, the hardier Celeste had to make do.

David and Sally Ramert, who own Metro Modern on Cary Street, designed and built the garden behind their Fan District home.

Nearby, David has trained a small grove of Japanese maples into a single canopy of leaves.

Although the whoosh of buses and the bustle of car traffic are only yards away, nothing — except the occasional blare of sirens — is audible inside the Ramerts' retreat.

While David is most often the one who gets his hands dirty, Sally combs roadside flea markets and urban yard sales for yard art. "If a place looks really mangy, we'll stop," she says.

She is especially proud of a stone wheel she found in Greensboro. "I wanted this sandstone color," she says.

"One side is mostly grey; the other has some rust color." Her only firm guidelines? Avoid cute and store-bought. "I made it a point to use ordinary things," she says.

Two starkly plain wooden benches were a steal for $90. "We love them, because they're really real," Sally says.

A multi-level deck leads from the back door to the garden. The old terra cotta pot came from California. One of Sally Ramert's guidelines when choosing objects for the garden was to avoid cute and store-bought.

Sally's favorite piece is an antique fire bell placed on one of the wooden blocks. Once she found it, the next challenge was figuring out how to ring it.

"I looked for wooden mallets everywhere," she says. "I wasn't going to pay $30 or $50, though." Finally, she found the perfect mallet in an antique shop.

Clearly, it is a point of pride for Sally, as she gives the rusty metal bell a gentle tap, sending a low, resounding hum through the garden. Suddenly, it's as if the quiet little garden has found its purpose, coming together in a peaceful tableau of nature and its many elements.

For Sally, the basso gong is what it's all about. "It sounds like Kyoto," she says with a peaceful smile.