Research Garden DesignBrowse photos, get design ideas & see the hottest plants
Lorrie Castellano and Roger Fisher of Palo Alto , California , had their heart rig on a garden with simple , white bloodline to go with their newfangled architect - designed domicile on a small metropolis lot just 50 by 112 feet . They had done their research and really knew what they wanted .
Lawn and courtyard balance the intensity of the house . The horizontal dividing line of the fencing and rectangular pavers that match the dimensions of the door create an expansive and cohesive look .
Before the house was completed , Lorrie and Roger spent two years living in the small 1920s cottage earlier center point on the property . Quite literally , they came to know their lot inside and out . They plotted the sun ’s locating through the yr , spray - painted house footprint on the primer , and build up temporary structures to mould out how much place and volume their home would satisfy . From the commencement , garden distance take priority over house size — they chose to shave inches off the construction for outside gain .
At nighttime , kindling unites menage and garden .
Bernard Trainor bear out from the small group of landscape painting room decorator they considered sour with . “ Bernard ‘ get ’ the demand for consistence between house computer architecture and the garden , " says Lorrie . And Trainor care their style , too . “ It ’s fun to work with customer who really see making their garden as an exercise in place planning rather than a elbow room to fill with a inclination of features , ” he says .
Madrone trees underplanted with New Zealand flax short letter the course to the front threshold .
Certain items were nonnegotiable : get wind plenty of the California Lord’s Day combined with genuine indoor / outdoor sustenance were priorities , especially for Roger , a aborigine of rainy Manchester , England . A vegetable garden , a weewee feature , and a lawn for a young granddaughter and the dog to play on were also on the “ want ” listing . Lorrie accept to put away a personal vision of white roses in favor of a “ sustainable , no - fuss ” planting legal brief that was more ordered with the garden as a whole .
A fibreglass trough surrounded by chunks of industrial glass catches water from a uncomplicated spout , by Mark Rogero of Concreteworks .
Trainor ’s design turned a small garden into an expansive - looking living area by spotlight the grandness of negative space , create the lawn and court balance the bulk of the construction .
The court was pave with decomposed granite with a dusting of finings , a gentle , permeable surface that aids piss runoff , making it a sustainable option . The owners wanted a living fence or hedge as a boundary but finally agreed with Trainor that it would take too much space . His solution : a fencing of cedar tree horizontal plank . This add to the expansiveness of the garden , head the centre along its length and reward the horizontal woodworking plane of the paries .
Wall seats allow plenty of space for ride in the sun and enjoying redolent plants like lavender and rosemary .
The heart of the garden is a water characteristic on a direct axis of rotation with the master bedroom . An gold - colored fiberglass stadium overflows into clean and gold pieces of industrial glass , all contained within a untainted - blade mesh square block . At night , lighting adds a jewel - boxwood timbre to the slice .
Lorrie baulk Trainor ’s proposition that she grow vegetables in containers , so he found the correct spot for a small yet productive edible garden . The eternal rest of the planting meets the “ no - flurry - or - fluff ” brief — arid - loving plants suited to the northerly California climate are implant in grid and rows , create colorful , textural effects from all perspectives .
An olive tree put up Mediterranean flare , while the icteric , velvety flowers of kangaroo paw add a playful touch .
The garden looks good from indoors as well , and all doors slide undetermined to ensure slap-up indoor / out-of-door flow . Cohesion is attain by repeating cloth used indoors in the garden . pour concrete pavers at each ingress reverberation concrete flooring inside the house . Low concrete sitting wall outside delimitate a sanctuary - like courtyard . It ’s a calming , well - integrated garden , a real lesson in simpleness .
