Select Your StyleDetermine which type of garden you prefer
Twenty - first century present-day landscape blueprint has a few commandment : There will be drama and tenseness , true telephone line and correct angles , restrained planting and innovative use of materials and , of line , slayer furniture . But sum the design challenge posed by differing region of North America ? That ’s where it gets interesting .
silken custom - made Brown Jordan article of furniture under a standpoint of Russian European olive tree trees ( Elaeagnus angustifolia ) invites lingering . Photo by : Steve Gunther .
In the high-pitched desert of Santa Fe , New Mexico , decorator Edith Katz of Laboratory of Landscape Architecture creates bedazzle gardens that not only thrive in the realm ’s often - abrasive conditions , but also hold their own against the out-and-out immenseness of the natural landscape painting . winner here requires a sure philosophic viewpoint .
“ I ’m a contextualist , ” says Katz . “ In this landscape , for representative , there ’s a golf course in the foreground and the near - infinite terrain of the foothill in the midview and distance . Rather than seek and make these strong elements go away , I consciously choose instead to relate them to the garden , using them as character reference detail in our design . ”
This sentiment just off the patio clearly shows how the carefully placed plants mirror the natural landscape of the sweeping foothills beyond . A xeriscape plant palette of soaptree yucca ( Yucca elata ) and santolina , wooly-haired thyme and red hot stove poker is gear up in a bed of crushed local Harlan F. Stone , inset with bed of crushed red lava rock ‘n’ roll . Photo by : Steve Gunther .
A gross model of this precept is the garden on the west terrace , where close test uncover elements trickily mirroring the whacky shapes of the golf game class just beyond it . Like the late landscape painting designer Roberto Burle Marx , of whom she ’s an champion , Katz here created decided painterly pattern on the ground plane with the minimal plantings behave as counterpoints .
At the front of the house , an aluminum - edge rendition of a modern parterre write of aboriginal and alien plants in an undulating ground plane blueprint of different colors and textures of smash stone and lava rock ‘n’ roll is a romantic element that provide colour class round . The reflecting pool surround the soar glass walls of the atrium was created to showcase the noteworthy Dale Chihuly chandelierlike sculpture suspend inside .
fervency meet water with a Dale Chihuly pendent suspend over an indoor reflecting pool at this Santa Fe garden designed by Edith Katz . The shallow washbasin continues outside , wrapping the atrium for a sorcerous effect . Guests pass the disingenuous installation of crushed crushed rock planted withHesperaloeand sage on their way to the front door edge in a violent metallic element form the colour of a high - desert sunset . photograph by : Steve Gunther .
“ A westerly landscape with its interplay of light and shadow is unlike anywhere else . Wallace Stegner say it best when describe this region : ‘ You have to get over the color green ; you have to quit associating mantrap with garden and lawns ; you have to get used to an insensate scale . ’ For me , that ’s meant get a line the value of restraint . ”
Restraint is a stem ( though on a way - different scale of measurement ) in Palo Alto , California , where tight urban gobs and the midcentury modern esthetic of house designed by Joseph Eichler involve unsentimental editing in the landscape . Eichler , a Laputan developer from the recent ’ 40s through the former ’ 70 , built some 2,700 of these clean , sleek houses in Palo Alto — more than anywhere in the United States . When the computer architecture is this compelling , how then to make a strong landscape painting that complement but does n’t overpower the abode ?
“ You have to fight flame with flack , ” say landscape architect Bernard Trainor , whose business firm specialise in these historic dimension . “ When the human - made element are this powerful , each feature in the landscape must have its own strength . ”
A of late vivify Joseph Eichler firm in Palo Alto propose views of this garden , designed by Bernard Trainor , from every way , let in the lord suite see here . The black screen behind the dining bench is a nod to Nipponese garden design . Photo by : Jason Liske / Redwood Design .
Look no further than Trainor ’s pattern for a Palo Alto client , where a recollective run of concrete occlusion paries on one side and the striking linear fencing and black screen on the other make his percentage point . “ We used materials similar to those found inside the house as our start point , and while we were n’t completely literal , we did keep to the idea of the nonindulgent , clean lines of the building , ” he says . “ What was significant here was to continually edit and rarify , edit and refine until we achieved the right-hand symmetry . ”
To rent the plants and garden characteristic shine , Trainor used a mixture of local crushed crushed rock , dim-witted poured concrete pavers and a few flagstone to make the base , and then brought in great - scale Boulder to add elusive rhythm to the landscape . One of the most magical constituent here is the fountain installed into the block bulwark . A simple stainless - blade spout trickles piddle onto a large rock — it looks so natural , it could almost go unnoticed if not for the auditory sensation .
The L - shaped courtyard compact a lot of living area into a small space . A low , pour - concrete bulwark just right of the wall - mounted fountain allows for extra seating area , and the dining set ( from Design Within Reach ) tip at romantic dinner under the adept . Photo by : Jason Liske / Redwood Design .
Sustainability play a important role in the designing of this garden . “ Green is not only about using less material overall , but using it more thoughtfully , ” tell Trainor . plant are a large part of that imperative and so were chosen not only for their rich colour and strong lines but their adaptability to period of drought . Aloes , kangaroo paws , ferns , succulent and a grove or two of bamboo are quite happy and lambent under the late - afternoon sun when this garden is most often savor by the householder .
“ This design rely on negative space . The distance between the feature film , the way it allows the twinkle to work its thaumaturgy and the sense of repose that breathing elbow room play . While the technical is significant , we can never draw a blank the therapeutic value of a garden , ” says Trainor .
Moving north to Vancouver , British Columbia , a region where it ’s frequently overcast , rain is a manner of life and gardens can get gloomy really fast . Watermark Gardens ’ principal designer Kari Renaud solved the grey-haired - mean solar day problem by front freight this present-day garden with scintillation and greened it up yr - round with hardscape component drenched in this hue .
Behind green glass venire , a serene world awaits visitors . Japanese maples and weeping elephantine sequoia ( Sequoiadendron giganteum‘Pendulum ’ , a rather whimsical mutation of a gargantuan redwood ) thrive in the 166 - some - rummy days of rainwater each twelvemonth . The clean - line handsome furniture is from Denmark ’s Cane - course . Photo by : Janis Nicolay .
Faced with a intriguing site , Renaud , an accolade - gain designer ( in 2007 , two of her gardens — this and another one — received Awards of Excellence from the BC Landscape & Nursery Association ) best known for her sleek , residential landscape , decided two class ago that rather than “ fix ” the lot , she would rethink its entire aim , transforming it into a frontyard lobby . “ We wanted to create an ' outside foyer ' where the homeowner can recognise their guests and create an experience outside that hint at what they ’re about to see inside . ”
The theatrics commence right at the AMEX with a set of 5 - base - by-5 - substructure glass - panel walls . nuzzle right up against the city pavement , these panel are two sheets of temper , sandblasted glass placed rough slope together and placid sides out , and fitted into a usance metallic element frame . When one passes through these panels , the garden opens to reveal walls rely with Japanese maple , hostas , euphorbias and an impressive stand of Gunnera .
The stucco rampart adds to the yr - round evergreen of this Vancouver , B.C. , garden , designed by Kari Renaud of Watermark Gardens , and obscure the neighbor ’s hedgerow . The spilling vocalise of the outpouring help mute the strait of the city street just ill-use away . exposure by : Janis Nicolay .
Inset into the 16 - foot - by-5 - foot paint concrete wall , a black - pebble fountain cascades down a stainless - steel trough into a washstand fill with papyrus , iris and piddle lilies . The bulwark serves two purposes — first , to add another twelvemonth - round greenish element and second , to obliterate from view the neighbour ’s just - not - right - but - immovable hedging . Below , a floor of nonslip , flamed - finished Italian Pietra Piasentina tile ( an Italian limestone that has the Robert Frost - proof , low - water supply - engrossment quality of granite ) shines and gleams under all that rain
Again , self - command and subject area normal the day . “ Modern design to me is marked by ease in the layout and planning of a space , ” says Renaud . “ at last , it is the compounding of details in textile that results in guarded dramatic play . ”
These three interior decorator consciously resist the “ just because we can ” veer by staying true to the weather condition inherent in their region , work with rather than against their environment , and respecting water and other dwindle resources . How very modern .
