We just completed plans for two projects: one urban front yard upgrade, the other a large estate. Both were fun to work on, and we’re waiting for them to be built and watch their owners enjoy them
Suburban landscape
A new pool, spa, sunken patio and lots of entertainment space for outdoor living at its best
This is quite an avant garden: a tapestry of grasses and grass-like plants of different colors interweave with low flowering plants. Quite contemporary!
This project is primarily designed for outdoor living. Other than the pool, it’s water conserving (the lawn is synthetic). It’s a view lot, so everything is low, things that move in the wind, harmony preserved with similar shapes. There are some flowers for accents – but the real plant stars of this project are the meadows. This being said, the main attraction will be the hardscape, with its numerous interlinked patios, circulation, view areas and sitting areas. Not to mention the pool and spa!
This is a modern, contemporary design: concrete is natural color with a broom finish, the option with the least amount of maintenance – with some accents of integral color concrete with the same finish. Colors are understated, like the plants: grays, light earth tones, greens, blue-greens and yellow greens. Mostly.
There are a few color accents, because having things pop out of the foliage from time to time keeps the garden interesting. For this reason, there are California fuchsias sages and aloes to attract hummingbirds.
The owner likes to cook, too. She’ll now have a raised bed for growing herbs like basil and parsley, maybe thyme. There’s a line of spice islands rosemary, a very fragrant variety with nice straight stems for skewers. There’s lots of sage, and a bay laurel hedge so she’ll never have to buy bay leaves again. That’s bay, thyme, parsley… add carrot, onion, celery and black pepper for bouquet garni, a base for French stocks (and a lot of Italian ones, too).
Urban Craftsman front yard
The Craftsman house’s main feature as you arrive is the staircase. It’s getting new handrails (the old ones were galvanized pipe!), bullnose brick and riser accent tiles for a more polished look.
The urban front yard uses all California native plants, although none are strictly speaking native to Sacramento. Since it’s a shady site with limited space, the plants will be a bit of an experiment. How much shade will they tolerate, and how much water will they prefer?
It looks simple, but we’re eliminating a badly placed step. The only way to do this is to redo all the steps to the porch – otherwise water would puddle at the base of the added first step!
The current stairs are cracked terrazzo, not very interesting and not very Craftsman either – flanked by brick walls with missing caps. The current bricks are all one color, too. All this will transform into more Craftsman like medium ironspot bullnose brick caps and treads to accent the existing standard brick. Matte tiles at the risers will bring another level of detail, to echo the white tiles used in the kitchen.
The dogs will be safer, protected by a new fence and wide gate. The fence will be simple steel: more transparent than classic Craftsman but also lighter and not as stocky.
It typically takes three years for things to grow in enough to look like the intended design. Some things, like slow-growing trees, take longer.