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| | Background
Nola Burger is a single homeowner living in Berkeley, CA. A talented book designer, Nola likes to entertain, hike, and travel, and she's especially known for slide shows of her excursions around the world. When Nola's mother passed away, Nola made the decision to invest her inheritance in a garden that could serve as a tribute to her late mother's memory.
Challenge
Nola's garden project consisted of a small rectangular front yard and a large bamboo-filled backyard. She had ideas about how she wanted to transform her property, but first she needed to oversee the removal of the bamboo. When that was done, the backyard was a bare slate and Nola was ready to hire a professional designer who could help her clarify her vision and make it a reality.
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| | Solution
Nola's garden design process started with a visit to a garden that Nola liked. From there, Deborah was able to get a sense of Nola's likes and dislikes in terms of plants, layout, and structures in the garden. At this point, Nola developed and gave Deborah a very elaborate color palette for the garden. The development of this color palette was no easy task on Nola's part. It showed the exact colors she wanted to use in the garden, and the exact proportions she wanted to use them in. This information not only told Deborah what colors Nola likes, it also told her a lot about Nola as a person and how she approaches design. Because Nola is a highly creative designer in her own right, Deborah began a very collaborative design process-one in which Nola led the garden design effort and Deborah supported and encouraged her throughout the process.
From drawing elaborate sketches of pathways to picking out individual stones, Nola worked closely with Deborah to create a natural garden tempered with highly sophisticated design elements for added visual structure and rigidity. The ultimate goal was for this garden to be a place where Nola could entertain friends, but also where she could re-experience the feeling of hiking in Nature.
The hiking theme first comes through in the design of the front yard. Because Nola wanted to concentrate most of her project budget on the backyard, Deborah worked with the existing rectangular structure and chose plants that would cascade over and hide the existing retaining wall, which otherwise would have been replaced.
Within this front area, a color palette of silver, wine and blue complements the soft teal house color, while a series of meandering stone pathways create a feeling of hiking in a wildflower field. In keeping with the way Nature operates, Deborah also added various plants between the stones to re-create the experience of stepping along a mountain trail of uneven terrain.
As you walk along the right side of Nola's house and enter the backyard, you find yourself in an entirely different world. Immediately, you are greeted with a warm color palette of orange, red, and yellow-tempered by varied shades of green. You are also struck by a sophisticated yet natural ambiance created by a series of stone pathways that meander and wind in complex patterns throughout the entire backyard. Taking center stage in the garden is an 11-foot, spiral-shaped, stone mosaic patio and wall-complete with three vegetable boxes that radiate from the center like sunrays. This space not only provides an area for entertaining, it also acommodates Nola's desire for edible plants to use in her cooking.
The garden experience continues to change as you leave the patio area, and wander along another hiking path featuring a large pine tree and a series of angel trumpets, grasses, wildflowers, and a variety of thyme, wisteria and clemantis. And while the garden was designed for the experience of being in it in - its visibility from the house was also a key factor in all design decisions. Nola and Deborah worked hard to ensure that the view from the house would take in the garden and all of its beauty.
All in all, Nola's garden is a place of Nature-inspired sophistication. It's a place for quiet contemplation, afternoons of food and drink with friends, and moments alone on hiking paths that feel like they're deep in the wilderness. | |
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