ABOUT

• older, 70's ranch house in process of 3-phase, complete remodel and major addition; the first phase is complete and the second is in progress.

• the back garden will be complete at the end of the second phase

• owners are both artists by avocation-one a glass artist and the other an abstract painter

• site is adjacent to a creek and ravine to the south and at the end of a cul-de-sac

• some existing trees were removed, due either to condition or position

• several existing trees to remain, including a very large evergreen Magnolia in the back

• property slopes towards the creek with a difference of about 18-24" in height

• project team includes owners, architect, interior designer, the landscape designer, and builder

PROJECT GOALS

• after a two-year hiatus in construction, 2013 will see this project up and running again. There will be architectural changes to which the garden must respond.

• create a garden with a Zen aesthetic without being a Japanese garden replica; interject contemporary style that includes glass art by the owner

• outside will reflect inside colors and finishes
  
  
• create a "pile o' rocks" feature in the back garden outside of the new master bedroom and viewed from the living room
  
  
• create a "mound o' dirt" in the front garden to coordinate with the architectural changes

• include a water feature near the new hot tub area

• include bamboo screening at the NE back corner and possibly elsewhere depending on the direction the architecture takes

DESIGN CONCEPTS

• The back garden has been substantially completed and includes a new bell hanger, a lotus pool by the deck, a stone patio with firepit, a spectacular stone water feature, custom stone walk, glass screens, 3 custom arbors at the west side, a bamboo grove and, of course, great plants.

• Concepts for the side and front garden will evolve this spring as the architectural revisions are made evident. But a new concept involving outdoor glass art is the idea of origami-folded paper. The front walk will display this new direction.

PLANTS FOR THE BACK GARDEN:

• The goal is to keep the plant types to a minimum and work with dry shade in the northeast corner.

• The plants include black bamboo, hellebores, Evergold sedge, autumn fern, Japanese painted fern, Leucothoe 'Rainbow', Japanese Holly, Edgeworthia crysantha, black mondo grass, and Alaskan weeping cedar.