Carpinteria

This house sat in a relatively small lot with a drab, narrow yard closely wrapping the sides and back of the house.  The existing spa area was uninviting, concrete floored, and utilitarian. The garden’s one advantage was a high hedge which provided plenty of privacy. Our client Bruce wanted to make the most of his space and asked Earthworks for a tropically inspired (if not strictly tropical) landscape with a lush feel and lots of color.

In the spa area we removed the concrete and laid widely spaced flagstone with grass planted between the plates. We kept the existing tree ferns and added broad leafed cannas, fuchsias, sky blue salvia and impatiens for color. To break up the tedium of the rectangular lot and to lead you from one space to another with a little sense of mystery we established planting beds of varying depth and bordered them in places with a very low, curving stacked stone wall. Placing an existing fountain in the bed by the corner of the house created a focal point both from the spa area in the side garden and a small patio at the back of the house and leads the eye around this corner.  Anchoring the fountain with a bamboo softens its ornate formality. From the corner patio at the back of the house the eye is drawn to a small bench which we placed at an angle in the far corner and nestled in a planting of fragrant Angel’s Trumpet, glowing Canna tropicana, penstemon, and red abutilon.