This small suburban back yard was mainly a leftover spot dominated by out of scale screening trees that made it feel like it was in a huge hole, a deck too small to accommodate more than two or three people and no gardening space to speak of. Our clients like to visit with friends and family out of doors, cook with a few kitchen herbs and hang out later than dusk doing it.
First removing the extremely overgrown Leyland Cypresses at the property edge opened up the back yard to sunlight and made the space seem much larger than it appears without visually exposing the users. A path traversing the entire space from one side of the back yard to the other was central to the space transitioning from mini slate chips in the main area of the back to simple mulch on the far side yard. Our client wanted to keep the existing retaining wall as is so color choices were critical in moving attention away from it to the immediate space such as red for the urn fountain and roses and the richer path color of the mini slate. The dark grey furniture and deck enlargement not only helped open up more entertainment space but draws visitor’s eyes to the main elevation of the garden with its repetition of strong color. A fire table with dark blue and grey tones help warm the atmosphere on chili nights outside and provide a focal point as you enter the garden from the parking court. Concrete stepping stones help guide you to the large deck at the back of the home if you want to get in on a conversation happening there. A small herb garden near the fountain insures that fresh herbs are available for cooking while blending ornamentally into the design. Copper landscape lights will slowly develop a patina to blend into the landscape visually in the day and light the space for late nights in the garden. Dwarf plants were chosen relative to the space size including Mondo Grass, Dwarf Camellias, Drift Rose, Georgia Blue Veronica, Lavendar and Creeping Rosemary to name a few. Point source drip irrigation was added to insure proper amounts of water would be applied to the plantings.
