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| | This garden was by far one of the most transformed spaces I have ever created. Carla and Paul are big DYI people but when it came to their garden they chose to get help from Green Alchemy and together we created a plan to meet their needs.
There were several challenges facing Carla and Paul. There were existing elements taking up a lot of the available space, a huge rock outcropping, a dark, buggy tree house, and a close perimeter fence line. Their home is situated on a hillside and the neighbors above loomed over their home creating a 'fish bowl' effect.
With a strong desire to expand their home into the garden and use its space Carla and Paul defined key family activities for me. Carla works at home and her office has a full view of the garden, When Paul finishes with work, family commitments and home improvement items, its important for him to take time for himself. Sally and Michael wanted to be outside when they had friends over. Michael especially wanted a lawn where he could practice his sports moves and play with the dogs.
When I first explored climbing up the rock outcropping I enjoyed the sense of being on the rocks as well as the 'above it all' feeling from being up high. Why not use these rocks, put them to work? So we designed a deck for the upper corner and lined the path of accent with containers that elevate Bamboo plants which screen out the neighbors.
Carla and Paul also wanted a water feature and we looked closely at a fissure in one of the rocks. After putting a garden hose on it and watching water trickle in a neat path to the bottom we decided to use it's natural attributes in our design.
The perimeter fence which aligned with the edge of the house left a vacant sloping grade on the outside of the fence and house wall. We designed a retaining wall along the property line and created gated access to the garden from that side of the house. This gave an additional 5' in width to the garden. | |
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| | The perimeter fence was aligned with the edge of the house | |
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| | The design of the tree house lacked light and was home to all kinds of creepy crawly things. The kids never used it. The tree devoured the center of the garden. It was a tough call but we removed the tree and planted new ones along the back of the property for a screen. | |
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| | Careful attention went into choosing plants that would screen out the neighbors and provide a sense of intimacy. | |
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| | The boulders, a prize and a problem. | |
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