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ATTLEBORO -- If you visit the gardens that surround the one-acre property of Kathi and Rick Gariepy at 1077 Pleasant St., you might be inclined to think you stepped back in time.

But, that's OK. That's the way it's supposed to feel, according to Kathi, who is a principal master gardener and instructor for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and president of the Attleboro Garden Club.

`` It's an old-fashioned garden,'' Kathi says. `` It should make you feel like you went to your grandmother's house. It has lilacs, it has mock orange, it has things that you wouldn't normally find in a new, modern development type of house.''

Several of the older plants, in fact, have been growing on the property since long before the Gariepy's purchased the 1904 Colonial Revival home 22 years ago.

The fragrant French lilacs and the white-flowering mock orange bushes are among the original plants, as are the pink-flowering beauty bush, the apple trees and pear trees and the blackberry, blueberry and raspberry bushes about the property. In addition, Kathi has added many old-fashioned plants of her own, such as the clematis, lady's mantel, peach-leaf bell flowers, peony, and, of course, the Boston ivy growing up their brick chimney, which originated in the family with her great-grandmother.

The older variety of plants doesn't stop there, however, as throughout her garden beds Kathi has added numerous types of Crane's Bill geranium, dianthus, herbs, hollyhock mallow, New England asters, tall summer phlox, Siberian iris, roses and veronica.

The older plants are only part of the features that create the earlier, more relaxed atmosphere in these gardens, however.

`` According to one of my British friends, `I have a lovely tangle,' in my gardens,'' Kathi said. `` It's not too precise. It has a certain flow, with very few straight lines, and everything doesn't have to be perfect. The colors are calming and soothing, and it's here for my relaxation and for people's enjoyment.''

As part of that relaxation and enjoyment, Kathi has added several colorful backyard gardens, which offer pleasing views from every direction of the brick patio, which Rick and their son Gerry made about four years ago.

One of the most creative of these beds is the large patio garden, which the whole family had a part in creating. Rick added a lattice-topped privacy fence behind a row of the tall mock orange bushes and French lilacs, which all serve as a nice backdrop for the garden, and Gerry created a small pond and built a contoured stonewall around the entire bed.

As with all of her flower beds, Kathi has created a scene here that will offer changing color from spring through fall against a constant setting of greenery.

The colorful scene began in early spring, with pink flowers from Lewisia bitterroot, followed by what Kathi describes as a sea of blue from Crater Lake Blue veronica.

The current scene includes pink dianthus, which Kathi grew from seed, pansies, lady bells and more. In July, a stuartia tree will offer large white flowers and in August, caryopteris shrubs will offer blue stalk-like flowers.

And it continues along the outside of the stonewall border, as Kathi has created an interesting display within the bricks of the patio, with golden thyme, silver thyme, woolly thyme, creeping thyme, mother of thyme and a variety of other ground covers. Another impressive display in the back yard comes from two beds, which together span more than 40 feet in length along the right side of the property.

An arched white arbor, with English latticework, serves as a focal point between the two beds, and is nicely offset by the changing color scene from each bed.

While each bed offers a different scene, the overall display is one which illustrates very nicely the wide variety of plants that Kathi uses in her beds.

Among the two beds are several varieties of the asters, daylilies, dianthus, Crane's Bill geranium, hollyhocks, phlox, Siberian iris and veronica. `` Johnson's Blue'' is just one type of the geraniums -- an old-fashioned variety, which offers deep blue flowers. `` Catherine Woodbery'' is just one type of the daylilies, offering pale pink-yellow blooms. `` David'' is just one type of the tall summer phlox, a mildew-resistant variety, offering white blossoms.

Between the two beds there are also Autumn Joy sedum, balloon flowers, peach-leaf bellflowers, candy tuft, coneflower, moonbeam coreopsis, daisies, false indigo, gooseneck loosetrife, edelweiss, bearded irises, lady's mantel, lupines, monk's hood, osteospurnum, peonies, rudbeckia, fairy roses, thrift and violets.

With these and all of the other flowers blooming about the property, Kathi says she can pick bouquets from March until the end of November.

Flowers are not the only things Kathi gathers for indoors, however, as she has planted a wide variety of herbs as well in a large herb garden, also viewed from the patio.

The herb garden is divided into four sections, each bordered with cobblestone blocks, and features a round bed in the center, where an old dwarf apple tree grows.

In addition to enhancing the family's soups, stews, salads and other dishes, the herbs also take turns offering color throughout the garden season.

Among the many herbs in the four beds, several of which have more than one variety, are basil, borage, caraway, chamomile, chives, fenil, horehound, lavender, lemon balm, lovage, oregano, meadow rue, rosemary, sage, taragon and thyme, as well as peppermint, spearmint, orange mint and chocolate mint.

In addition to the other beds about the property, Kathi has also adorned the front and back porch with window boxes, hanging plants, container gardens and various accent pieces.